A documentary series

Store:      For Birds Only
Location: 7990 Santa Monica Blvd  West Hollywood, CA 90046
Phone:    (323) 848-8361
Website:  www.forbirdsonlyla.com/

Store Questionnaire filled out on site on July 5th, 2013

 

1. Does the store sell birds? Yes 

2. Does the store have a quarantine area? Yes

3. Does the store sell unweaned babies? No – this is also illegal under California State Law

4. Does the store breed their own birds, or do they purchase babies from outside sources? Breeds their own, and purchases from local breeders

5. Does the store board birds? Yes

6. If yes, are the boarded birds kept separately from birds in the shop? Yes

7. What are the requirements for boarding? * No requirements for boarding

8. If the store does grooming or training, are the birds in a separate area than any in the store or boarded birds? * No

9. Are customers allowed to interact with birds in the store? Yes

10. Is food sold in bulk? Yes

11. Does the facility work with or support a rescue in any way? * No 

12. Are potential owners given access to educational material before the purchase of a bird? No

13. Are staff members trained to assist with issues such as behavior, diet and caging questions that clients may bring up? Yes

14. Does the store staff take part in continuing education? Yes

15. Does the staff readily answer customer questions? *Yes

16. Does the store do pre purchase screening prior to selling a bird to an individual? * No

17. Does the store sell ‘custom blended’ mixes? Yes – custom blend seed mixes

18. Is the store well lit? No

19. How often do cages get cleaned? 1 x daily

20. Is there a safe area where birds are allowed out of their cages in the store? No 

21. What brands of food are sold? (Foods listed were foods available on store shelves at the time of the visit)

• Kaytee
• Blessings
• Harrisons
• Pretty Bird
• Zupreem

22. What services does the store offer?

• Boarding
• Grooming
• Other

 

Notes:

#7 – The respondent indicated that the bird must appear physically healthy as a requirement for boarding, but in the same sentence said there wasn’t really a requirement for boarding. Because no disease testing or health certification is required, I chose to put this answer as ‘No’ rather then ‘Yes’

#8 – The respondent answered ‘Yes’ to this question and motioned to the back of the room where there is a table and grooming supplies. There was a bird in the store for grooming during our visit. For grooming, the bird must be walked past all of the store birds and supplies, to the back of the room. The bird would be groomed (there are no cages around), and then walked back to the front of the door. The entire store is small, and is effectively only one long isle with merchandise on each side. Because the grooming station is less then 10 feet from the store birds, I would have to honestly place this answer as ‘No’ instead of the answer given by the respondent.

#11 – The respondent indicated Yes to this question, but then when asked about which rescues are in the area and which one For Birds Only supports, he only gave the names of local area bird clubs – and would not name any rescue in particular (or say how exactly they supported it). For this purpose, I am marking this question ‘No’.

#16 – When asked this question, the respondent answered ‘Yes’, however did not give a direct answer about exactly what screening entailed. The respondent did mention that he has turned down people interested in purchasing a bird before. Because there wasn’t any kind of set information about how the respondent screens each potential customer, I am marking this question as a ‘No’ rather then a ‘Yes’.