OP-ED: RI Lawmakers, Please Don’t Cage Ethical Birdkeeping
Rhode Island Current published an op-ed warning that proposed legislation to ban pet stores from selling parrots and other psittacine birds could eliminate regulated, transparent sources and push consumers toward unlicensed sellers. The author argues that birds from licensed breeders are raised under established welfare standards and that removing regulated retail channels would reduce oversight, increase disease and fraud risks, and harm both birds and responsible businesses.
“Prohibiting pet stores from procuring birds from ethical breeders and brokers effectively eliminates the most transparent, accountable pathway for these birds to have loving homes,” Mark Hagen writes, noting that when regulated supply chains disappear, demand often shifts to unlicensed online sellers and black-market sources where there is little oversight or consumer protection.