Keep the Crackers, PetSmart—Polly Wants Freedom!

PetSmart does not care about animals, plain and simple. If it did, it wouldn’t treat them as objects to be bought and sold. Although PetSmart recognizes that dogs and cats should be adopted out, not sold, the pet store chain—one of the supposed “leaders” in its industry—sentences birds to unnatural lives in cages. We need you to help us convince PetSmart that birds should be free to do what they were meant to do: fly.

Commercial bird-breeding operations that supply pet stores like PetSmart are just as cruel as puppy mills, churning out thousands of birds at a time in dank, dark warehouses before shipping them off to be sold like trinkets. Many birds sold at PetSmart live to be more than 80 years old. Imagine what it must be like for these animals to be imprisoned for almost a century, when their instincts tell them that they should be flying. The fact is that no cage, no matter how large, can provide birds with anything close to a home. By selling birds in its stores, PetSmart is only guaranteeing that more and more birds will be forced to live behind bars.

Our feathered friends want freedom, and you can help—this month, we want you to send PetSmart CEO Philip Francis crackers along with a letter or greeting card reading, “You can have the crackers—Polly wants freedom! Stop selling birds at PetSmart.” Clever, don’t you think? You can usually get a pack of crackers for free anywhere that has a salad bar, so anyone should be able to do this one. Pack up your crackers and your letter or card, and mail to:

Philip L. Francis, CEO
PetSmart, Inc.
19601 N. 27th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85027

Let’s flood Mr. Francis with letters (and crackers!) so that he gets the picture that PetSmart will be losing customers if it continues to sell birds in its stores. Be sure to send a photo of your cracker-filled letter to StreetTeam@peta2.com before you mail it off. We’ll give you 1,000 Street Team points for helping out. If you aren’t on the Street Team, you better sign up!