My friend who works at a Petsmart on consultant basis in CA just got back from her facility with a heavy heart. She had to euthanize the majority of their birds- mainly lovebirds- some not even fully feathered.

They had PBFD. Petsmart refuses to tell customers and consumers, but its getting bad. A facility 30 min away from where my friend, Jess, consults, just called in- they are having to euthanize their birds too...

DO NOT GO INTO PETSMART. Petsmart gets all of their birds from the 'kaytee preferred bird program' aka a legalized, and supported, bird mill. The birds came to the Petsmart sick, so there is a damn good chance all the birds in all petsmarts across the nation were/are exposed to this deadly virus. All Petsmarts get their birds from the same facilities- so her recommendation is to avoid Petsmart at all costs. If you must buy cat food or whatever, take off your shoes before entering the house, and shower before touching your birds. If you can, setup a 'dip' system at your front door where you walk through a diluted bleach or other solution before entering the house.


Petsmart is refusing to take responsibility for this, even selling birds while the initial tests where still out, and refusing to contact people who have bought birds within the past month.

where in cali? I go to the local Petsmart often for fish supplies.

Crap, not exactly sure Jim- but she also told me that facilities started calling her that are 30 minutes away, and up to an hour and a half away with the exact same symptoms....
lemme find out for you. I think she is near Malibu for some reason?

i worked at a stoe in nj. i quit because they had pbfd and still do but they wont tell the customers. The owner said she would kill me if I told anyone. They have other diseases in there too and they lost lots of babies.

Write to the corporate office--I just went to the website and found the email link. Sent a letter. I'll post again when/if I get a reply.

sorry, I guess you have to email from the Petsmart page...it does not show the email adddress....just links you directly

We certainly need to call or write to the corporate office to find out what is going on and where. PC does not want to be responsible for spreading any information of this nature unless the facts have been verified. Thanks

Also, while the disease is deadly, if proper quarentine procedures are followed it is not a death sentance for all involved.

I had an outbreak of PBFD in my store and home. I called Dr. Ford in a panic! He had me quarentine all bird that either looked infected or came in contact with infected birds. I only had to euthanize a couple birds. One lovebird had full blown PBFD. Feathers missing, long beak and 2 positives tests. I have photos and the test results for her. I kept her in isolation and provided great nutritional care and a positive environment. To this date, almost a year later she has tested negative 2 times now. Her feathers are perfect and she is healthy and fantastic. The PBFD never spread beyond the few birds that came in with it from a breeder.

I have continued doing environmental swabs on a monthy basis as well as random and continious testing of my flock, just in case.

I did tell my customers. I used ozone and bleach to keep the environemnt disease free and still do on a regular basis. I move all the birds out of the store, but leave cages, dishes and toys. I ozone the heck out of the place. I have an industrial ozone maker and that stuff is deadly to living things. People/animals/bacteria and viruses. So remove all the stuff you dont' want killed and gas the rest.

Just my thoughts on PBFD, yes they should tell their customers.

Yep...If this is true, it needs to be addressed...if it is not accurate-we need to know that too. I hope that someone at the corporate office responds in a timely manner to email. Only thing is...if they are not going to take responsibility, they will not respond honestly either.

Thanks for the heads up, Emily. That's very scary.