Leg band question

So, I was in pet smart last night with Kyo in her Celtei backpack, and one of the employees freaked out at me because she doesn't have a leg band. She said that the authorities could come take her away from me.

I was pretty sure in the past that it was legal in Canada to have leg bands removed by a vet for safety, and I don't plan to move anywhere so why the big fuss?

Just wondering what the truth is. I am in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

In Canada it's perfectly legal to have a bird without a leg band, and in many cases it's actually safer not to have them. Birds with OPEN leg bands need to keep them because it means they've been wild bred and authorities need to keep tabs on that.

This will sound bad, but 99% of Petsmart employees have no idea what they're talking about.

I also just want to add - I got my IRN from a breeder in Ontario who doesn't even band her babies because she knows where they're going and because she considers it an old school practice. I'd like to see any authorities try and take my bird from me when I purchased my boy legally within Canada [emoji12]

I used to work for the company a few years ago, and unfortunately a lot of people are uneducated about birds in general. The only problem I'm aware of for unbanded birds is traveling, and if certain species aren't permitted in certain states here in the US or overseas due to invasive species laws.

I know a lot of the employees at chain pet stores love birds... But most of them are absolutely clueless. I know a few good ones, but seriously have received some terrible input from places like that.

I band all my birds with a closed band in the nest. Having that band number is the surest way to prove ownership of your bird. This is also important to me because of my adoption policies and how strict I am and the measures I take to make sure my babies don't end up on Craigslist when disaster strikes their families, or if heaven forbid I send them home with good actors who don't have the level of commitment to them that I thought they did when I sent the bird home.

Banding also allows me to keep detailed records and be sure I know who is related to whom. Even though my contract prohibits people from breeding the birds I send home with them, I never send home opposite gender bid who are related to the same home; too much of a risk of inbreeding. And if a bird is ever returned to me because the family can no longer care for it, my band insures that I know EXACTLY which bird it is, who his family is, how much he weighed at weaning, if he ever was treated for anything, and a hundred other details, even if it is, say, a blue ringneck that looks just like the 10 other blue ringneck said that were produced that year.

Bands also facilitate interstate travel. In order to bring my beloved Flick with me to Hawaii I had to put an open band on her, which is very risky, because her breeder didn't band her with a closed band.

When microchips become safely available for the size of birds I work with, I will use those instead for now I don't think they are old school, I think they are extremely valuable and, I feel, vital to responsible record keeping, regardless of which homes the birds are going to.

Now about Kyoto not having a band. Some states in the USA require a band or microchip. Some states require a band or microchip for the bird to be sold RETAIL. At our local pet chain pet stores even the finches have open bands applied, and I believe it is illegal to sell unbanded birds in a retail location. It could be that this is the law where you live, or that it is simply the policy of that pet store to require each bird to be banded, and that the associate misunderstood the regulations

Thank you so much for the clarification everyone! Some excellent information.