Thank you so much for putting this into motion!!!! So many times I go in Wal-Mart and my heart breaks seeing the way these poor babies are treated!!!! Michael and I have already saved two of them (unfortunately they did not survive) and we are ready to save more if we see them -- we hope we don't though because they do not deserve that crappy life on Wal-Mart shelves!!!! I just signed it!!! Thank you so much again!!!!!
PetCo needs to be added to this petition. The 2 by me are horrible! Ive told them time and time again to change their water, and they NEVER do, seriously NEVER! I will definitely sign! Good luck! =)
The PetSmarts and PetCos near me are AMAZING with their bettas and they always take such good care of them. They always have plenty of CLEAN water and they all seem VERY healthy and always have SUCH a good variety. PetSmart is where we got our two and mine, Iggy, is two and a half years old and is healthy as ever!!!
What we need to petition are these tanks: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Culture-Betta-Cube-Aquarium-Kit-.3-gal/17177236 Among others, yes, but these are the most popular where I live and they are right right to the bettas along with food and water, etc "to make getting a betta and a home for your betta easier" But its torture and should NOT be in production.
I don't know if you should do a petition against Petco and Petsmart, because it seems that every individual store location is different in the way they care for their bettas. My Petsmart takes really good care of their bettas. They even move them to the back of the fish section in the winter so that they aren't too close to the drafty door. One of the Petcos in the area also always has really healthy bettas, but I've been to a couple of other Petcos in the state and they have had their bettas in really bad shape- lethargic, sick, dead, dirty water, yuck. But like I said, it seems like it is different with each store location.
But with Walmart I've never heard anyone defend their local walmart on how they keep their bettas, so it seems like every Walmart is horrible at taking care of their bettas. I actually didn't know that Walmart sold fish at all because none of the Walmarts in my area (Connecticut) or the ones I went to in California sold fish.
I do agree with you orangeaugust. Different locations can differ drastically. It all depends on the management and the people working there, some could care less if the water is dirty, some people are obsessed with cleanliness.
My Petco down the road ive been going in for about 2 weeks now, trying to get someone to clean their water. Got the same story last week, "our fish girl got in an accident a week ago, so no ones been her to care for them." So now, half of them are dead or lethargic and they dont even take them off the shelves. Yuck. Im happy to hear not all PetCos are run like the ones by me.
Yes thankfully the walmarts around me in Cali do not sell bettas. I wouldnt be able to shop there.
Honestly I've gone to several Petco/Petsmarts/Walmarts in hunt for potential good Betta. My conclusion is that the treatment they receive depends on the actual employees there. The good employees change water frequently, and gently! and don't overfeed the poor fish. The only thing these retailers have to do with the mistreatment is a lack of protocol for their employees on how they should be treating the fish.
I've seen Petcos and Petsmarts with dirty containers covered in feces, fish half dead (one jumped out because the water was way too high), and with dry food all over the lid, floating in the water, etc. But I also have seen stores with very healthy and good Betta. I think something that will help the Betta in your area is by talking to the store employees and inform them of how they can give these Betta a better chance at survival, though most of them will probably get annoyed.
The sale of fries should really be banned though. They have absolutely no chance of survival at all, unless placed into someone with a lot of experience. And people with experience won't buy fry that will most likely grow into VTs anyway.
Guys... If we petition petco and petsmart against having betta fish, where will we buy them besides online and that is very stressful for them to be in a box with no light or food
Many local fish stores have Betta as well. I noticed that the ones that treat their Betta better usually have a better selection of good Betta too, though I guess poorly treated Betta, well, look poor.
I like how Petco labels DT/SDTs as HMs and sell them for 18 dollars each.
If enough people are aware of this and stop buying bettas at wal-mart then they will not get anymore bettas in to sell, sadly the only thing wal-mart cares about is profit and very little else. I shopped there once about 6 years ago and vowed never to go there again.
My local pet store PJ's Pets does an awsome job of taking care of their bettas, they have a wall of them in 1/2 liter containers( no tiny little 3 ounce cups) and I go there about once a week and the water has always been clean and they really do seem to care about the bettas they sell.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Betta Fish Forum
1.8M posts
105.7K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to Betta fish owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeds, health, behavior, tanks, care, classifieds, and more!