By Seth Hettena
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN DIEGO – Petco Animal Supplies Inc. said Tuesday it will stop selling large birds in a deal with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which agreed to end its boycott of the No. 2 pet supply chain.
Larger parrots, such as African greys, Amazon parrots, cockatoos and macaws will no longer be sold at Petco stores once the company completes the sale of its existing stock of the birds. Petco will continue selling smaller and medium-sized birds, such as canaries, finches, parakeets, cockatiels and conures.

"We recognize that most of our bird customers are what we would call 'beginning hobbyists.' Large birds are not necessarily appropriate for these individuals due to their long lifespan, size and care requirements," Bruce C. Hall, Petco's president and chief operating officer, said in a joint statement.

San Diego-based Petco, which operates 730 stores, also agreed to encourage adoption of homeless birds from shelters and to separate mice and rats by gender to prevent them from breeding.

In return, PETA agreed to end demonstrations outside Petco stores and has taken down its anti-Petco Web site. The Norfolk, Va.-based organization began attacking the company in January 2003 for what PETA called Petco's pattern of mishandling pets for sale. A PETA Web site and billboard ads, in a play on the company slogan, called Petco a place "where the pets die."

"We'd be happier if all birds weren't sold, but this is a precedent-setting action," said Daphna Nachminovitch, a Petco spokeswoman. "It is a victory for the birds for certain."

Large parrots can easily outlive their adult owners, said Nachminovitch, who considers parrots to be wild animals and terrible pets. Wild and escaped parrots are known to flock noisily in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities.

Petco spokesman Shawn Underwood denied that PETA's boycott campaign hurt Petco's $1.8 billion in sales in fiscal 2004.

Joan L. Storms, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc., said Tuesday's settlement was a positive move for the company and added that Petco was not worried about the bottom line so much as its public perception.

"They do not want to be perceived as people who are mistreating animals," Storms said. "I think they felt that it really is in everbody's best interests to be aligned with PETA."

A complaint by PETA to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, calling on Petco to disclose revenue and inventory figures of pets for sale in its stores, is pending.

Last year, Petco paid more than $900,000 to settle two lawsuits that accused the company of mistreating animals and overcharging customers. The settlements resolved a lawsuit brought by district attorneys in four California counties, including San Diego, along with a separate action filed in 2002 by San Francisco's city attorney.