Sean K.
Yelp
In the interest of bird owners anywhere, I must inform anyone considering Bird Jungle to take their business elsewhere, especially if they are considering boarding their birds while on leave/vacation, and purchasing a bird from a more reputable source.
My family's healthy African Grey of 9 years "was stolen" from Bird Jungle the previous year when we were abroad. Bird Jungle offers room/boarding and care for the birds at a fee, which was our only option. The owner did not immediately notify us as the owners, nor did not notify or place signage for what he considered a "theft" of the bird. Despite having security cameras around the store and entrances, none of this expensive equipment works, and this was confirmed when the police investigated. At any point, people can walk out with birds that are not in locked cages, and from discussions with former patrons, this is not uncommon.
After a police investigation and rather unresponsive communication with the owner, we realized that despite entrusting the bird in the care here, it was gone. The owner, Ira, had the callous response to offer "another bird", and when we rejected this offer, he said he would not offer anything else. Much to our shock, he referred repeatedly to the bird and other birds as "depreciating assets" and that he could not offer us the value of the bird that he was selling these birds for. My family and I would never find any value of money able to replace the loss of a loved one, and this is a sentiment that is shared among many pet owners. When asked to "put the shoe on the other foot" and if the owner would feel that a fraction of the value or another bird would make up for the loss of a bird in a professional's care, he claimed that he would be OK, and that the bird "has lost value as it ages". It was among one of the most unsympathetic, careless, and soulless conversations I've ever had. At no point did Ira accept accountability or remorse or a shred of care for the loss of our pet, which we had supported his store for years buying food and other products from.
This appalling matter went as far as the county court, and despite being the bare minimum that the owner could do was match the monetary value of the bird (he was offering 15% of what the same bird costs in his store), he spent even more money to hire an attorney in an attempt to prevent us from seeking our fair damages from losing our bird in his care. During these proceedings, he claimed that the birds in his care - All birds boarded at Bird Jungle, which customers are paying to board - are not his responsibility if they are lost. This not only defeats the purpose of boarding the birds, as the whole point of boarding a pet is to ensure it's health and safety until you return. A judge called this owner out on this and awarded us the fair amount. It's shameful that Ira would go out of his way to not only short-change and pass the blame onto his longtime customer, but prevent a longtime customer from seeking a fair resolution, which offered to settle out of court, but were met with absurd offers, rude remarks, and had no other option.
It's not clear to us whatever happened to our pet, and it has been suspected that there's probably more to it we don't know. We left a valuable pet in the eyes of someone who sees these animals only for profit, and a healthy female grey could fetch a high price to a breeder or mill, where a lot of these birds unfortunately come from. That's not my judgment to make or assume. What I can tell you, is that Bird Jungle has no accountability whatsoever for the well-being of it's animals, and sees their value only on a profit and loss statement - basically from the words to the owner which multiple parties in my family and court saw and heard with our own eyes and ears. I see the condition that many of these birds are in, and see these animals are in positions of discomfort, and that is neglected by the owner who only cares about his bottom line. Shame on Bird Jungle. It took me great thought and time to write this, but in the memory of my lost pet, and the hope that no other owner should endure such an unnecessary loss, and be so disgustingly treated by the person responsible, it is undoubtedly necessary that I advise you: Take your business somewhere else. Bird Jungle doesn't care for the best interest of their birds, your bird, or anyone else except the owner's wallet.