Parakeets Baked to Death in Local Breeders’ Sweltering Barn; PETA Seeks Criminal Probe
For Immediate Release:
August 1, 2024
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
A damning, just-released U.S. Department of Agriculture report reveals that parakeets died in a blazing-hot barn at a Checotah-area breeding operation run by Arden and Carol Plett. In response, PETA sent a letter today to McIntosh County District Attorney Carol Iski urging her to have an avian veterinarian and investigators visit the facility and file applicable charges against those responsible for the birds’ suffering and death.
According to the report, on June 24 a federal veterinarian found approximately 2,000 birds kept inside a barn with a heat index of 110.7 degrees. At least six parakeets were found dead, and at least six juvenile or baby birds showed “clear signs of heat distress,” including “low posture, extended wings, and open-mouth panting.” During a follow-up inspection on June 25, federal veterinarians found two birds trapped between layers of cages’ roofs. The report noted that this type of entrapment was “a risk to the birds [that] could result in injury or even death.”
“Birds suffered and died in agony because miserable breeding facilities like this one treat animals as nothing but commodities to be churned out as cheaply as possible,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on McIntosh County authorities to prosecute those responsible for these birds’ death and urging everyone never to buy any animal from a breeder or a pet store, which keep operations like this one in business.”
PETA is pursuing charges under state law because the federal government doesn’t render relief or aid to animals during its inspections and these violations carry no criminal or civil penalties.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Iski follows.
August 1, 2024
The Honorable Carol Iski
District Attorney
District 25
Dear Ms. Iski:
I’m writing to request that your office (and the proper law-enforcement agency, as you deem appropriate) investigate and, as suitable, file criminal charges against those responsible for the fatal neglect of parakeets at a breeding facility operated by Arden and Carol Plett at 107165 S. 4270 Rd. near Checotah. PETA urges investigators to visit the facility with a veterinarian who has expertise in avian health and welfare to identify any animals in need of care and opine on the conditions of and for the approximately 2,000 birds there.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinary medical officer documented neglect at the facility in the attached report. On June 24, he found parakeets confined to a barn where the temperature was 93.4 degrees, with a heat index of 110.7 degrees. At least six birds were found dead, and at least six others—juveniles and babies—were “showing clear signs of heat distress, such as having a low posture, extended wings, and open mouth panting.” The federal veterinarian noted that the birds were “suffering from severe heat distress.”
These findings may violate Oklahoma’s cruelty-to-animals statute, 21 OK Stat. §21-1685, which prohibits depriving an animal of “necessary … shelter … to prevent suffering.” The USDA’s action renders no aid or relief whatsoever to animals on site, carries no criminal or civil penalties, and doesn’t preempt criminal liability under state law for acts of animal neglect. If you’d like to learn more about the USDA’s findings, please see the contact information for the office in Riverdale, Maryland, here.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please let us know if we can assist you.
Sincerely,
Elise Fisher
Evidence Analyst
Cruelty Investigations Department
PETA
