Karen Goodman has recently found herself coaxing customers through the doorway of her Denver bird store.
Shoppers – concerned about bird flu – poke their heads in just far enough to ask whether there’s a risk that the squawking cockatiels, parrots and macaws flitting around the store might carry the deadly H5N1 avian-flu virus.
While the bird-flu strain found in parts of Asia and Europe has not been found in the United States, Goodman, owner of the African Grey bird store in Denver, said fear of the disease is cutting into her business.
“This is usually our busy time of year,” she said.
Goodman estimates that monthly sales have dropped by about a third over the past eight to nine months. The decline coincides with intense news coverage of the disease. Business picks up when coverage tapers off, she said.
There’s anecdotal evidence that bird-store owners throughout the U.S. have experienced similar problems, but there’s no quantifiable evidence of how bad the problem is.
“Each time there’s a spike in the press about bird flu, such as what we’ve just experienced with this recent issue in Europe, it seems to trigger, I think, an understandable response in people,” said Marshall Meyers, executive vice president and general counsel for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council.
The trade group is putting together a list of bird-care guidelines for owners and sellers to limit the risk of exposure.
Experts say domestic birds aren’t at risk for the disease, which in some cases has spread to humans, unless they have been exposed to wild birds that are infected. Owners are being urged to keep their birds indoors.
Six percent of U.S. households have at least one pet bird, according to the pet industry council.
The majority of birds sold in the U.S. are raised domestically, and the small numbers that are legally imported are quarantined for 30 days, which experts say is long enough to detect the disease.
Goodman has hung a sign on the door of African Grey explaining such facts to customers, and Phoenix-based PetSmart Inc. has posted similar notices in its stores.
The chain this week quarantined hundreds of birds in its Texas stores after two were discovered with a bacterial infection. Experts said the infection is unrelated to bird flu.
Some Denver-area pet-store owners said concern about the illness hasn’t hurt their businesses.
“I don’t see fear amongst the bird owners,” said Tina Button, owner of Feathered Puppies in Arvada.
Dave Carson, owner of Exotic Birds of Denver, said people have asked him about bird flu but that business has held steady at his store, which is in Englewood.
Goodman, however, worries that continued focus on the disease will harm the pet-bird industry. She’s particularly worried about what will happen if the virus eventually is found in the U.S.
“I’m terrified that it is going to be a terrible overreaction,” she said.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
