Petco has hatched a plan.
Budget-conscious Long Islanders are flocking to the pet supply retailer’s location in Commack, New York, which has started selling egg-laying female chicks as part of a “pilot program” for those looking to procure their own eggs amid soaring costs.
“We actually sold through the first two batches,” a worker at the store told The Post, adding that a third shipment of about 25 female chicks sold for $5.99 a pop is expected to come in on Wednesday.
“We’re down to our last few.”
The pilot program, which started in late March in five U.S. stores, serves as the retailer’s first foray into selling chicks year-round beyond select rural locations. The birds of varying breeds are sourced from an Iowa hatchery, the store rep said.
A corporate representative did not disclose where the other stores are located, but the local worker confirmed Commack is the only participating store on Long Island to do so.
However, local animal activists are calling fowl play, claiming that many of the birds are abandoned after being bought and before even laying eggs.
“First with COVID, and now with avian influenza, people are getting these animals because they think it’s a cheaper way of getting eggs, but it’s actually exactly the opposite,” John Di Leonardo, executive director of Humane Long Island told The Post, adding he’s seen an uptick in surrendered and abandoned birds this spring due to interest in at-home egg production.
“Most people end up dumping them before they ever even lay a single egg,” he said. “People don’t really know what they’re getting into.”
Di Leonardo, who has rescued about a dozen dumped chicks and many more roosters this year, reports the vast majority of the abandoned birds can’t survive the elements for more than a day – and many others are provided hospice care when they are rescued “because they’re too far gone.”
Properly caring for the birds is expensive, he said. An expert bird vet could run owners up to $1,000 or more for one visit, and the installation and maintenance of a proper coop could add thousands more to a bird lover’s budget.
“For one of those cheap [coops] that you get at Tractor Supply for $100, a raccoon is going to break in immediately and kill your whole flock,” Di Leonardo noted.
Also, by law, people have to buy at least six chicks at a time, increasing the burden, the store confirmed.
But while the worker claimed the chicks are coming in “really healthy,” Di Leonardo questioned whether the Commack store has anyone on-site with the veterinary knowledge to make that assessment.
“They pick [the chicks] up at the post office like everyone else,” the activist argued. “They’re mailed without food or water, and many arrive dead.”
The new “pilot program” also contradicts a pledge the pet store made last year to PETA in regards to its rabbit sales, vowing it would be “recommitting to an adoption-only policy,” Di Leonardo said.
“Petco has really had a dismal record for years,” Colin Henstock, PETA’s Associate Director of Project Strategy, told The Post. “Petco sells a lot of small animals … and they all come from large, deplorable breeding mills.
Humane Long Island and PETA are now planning a protest outside the Commack store to draw attention to the issue.
In the meantime, Di Leonardo only expects the number of abandoned birds to increase as a result of the bird flu – and more readily-available birds at local stores.
“Petco is a multi-million dollar company – I don’t see how selling some animals … is really going to boost their sales in any significant way,” he said.
“They’re going to survive with or without that, so it’s particularly atrocious that they’re doing it now.”
Petco corporate officials did not return requests for comment.
