But I need to ask a question that's been KILLING me since I joined.
Why do people say they are rescuing Bettas from pet stores?
I work in rescue for small animals, pet rats to be exact. Pet rats get just as little care as Bettas, and most times their fate is to be fed to another animal in a very scary and stressful situation. In the pet rat world, we boycott pet stores. We do not go in and buy every rat we see, to save them from being fed to animals or over being over bred or being shoved in a hamster cage for the rest of their lives. We do not buy our cages, food, bedding, toys, hammocks from pet stores. We set up rescues for people to adopt from, we take in rats that need homes from local sites like Craigslist (USA) or Kijiji (Canada). By buying them from the pet stores, we are telling the stores it's ok to stock them, because they will be bought. By emptying the selves of rats, we are giving them space to get more in to sell. Sure it's crappy for the rats left there, but it's slowing the process down. For every rat that is bought from a pet store, another replaces it.
It's the same with Bettas Even though they are horribly taken care of, in tiny cups of dirty water and barely holding onto life... by buying that Betta you are saving him/her... but you are also opening that spot for another Betta to be tortured. It's a cycle, supply and demand. The more we buy, the more they bring them in.
What I want to know is why do people call this a rescue? In the rescue world, we call this paying the stores for doing a horrible job. Nothing will ever change as long as they profit from their ill care of animals.
I dunno, just wanted to ask is all. I would much rather support non animal/fish stores, fish only stores or buy online. I buy the majority of my stuff online or from WalMart. Sure, I just bought Ben from my pet store but I didn't rescue him. I also bought everything he needed from WalMart so the pet store wouldn't proffit. They made $5 off me, not $100.
Please, don't shoot me!! But if we sit back and look at it, really we're just supporting this treatment right? Why not support a local breeder who works hard to take care of these babies? Why not buy everything at a store that doesn't sell fish in bad tanks/cups? Maybe they will get the point then?
*shrugs*
Why do people say they are rescuing Bettas from pet stores?
I work in rescue for small animals, pet rats to be exact. Pet rats get just as little care as Bettas, and most times their fate is to be fed to another animal in a very scary and stressful situation. In the pet rat world, we boycott pet stores. We do not go in and buy every rat we see, to save them from being fed to animals or over being over bred or being shoved in a hamster cage for the rest of their lives. We do not buy our cages, food, bedding, toys, hammocks from pet stores. We set up rescues for people to adopt from, we take in rats that need homes from local sites like Craigslist (USA) or Kijiji (Canada). By buying them from the pet stores, we are telling the stores it's ok to stock them, because they will be bought. By emptying the selves of rats, we are giving them space to get more in to sell. Sure it's crappy for the rats left there, but it's slowing the process down. For every rat that is bought from a pet store, another replaces it.
It's the same with Bettas Even though they are horribly taken care of, in tiny cups of dirty water and barely holding onto life... by buying that Betta you are saving him/her... but you are also opening that spot for another Betta to be tortured. It's a cycle, supply and demand. The more we buy, the more they bring them in.
What I want to know is why do people call this a rescue? In the rescue world, we call this paying the stores for doing a horrible job. Nothing will ever change as long as they profit from their ill care of animals.
I dunno, just wanted to ask is all. I would much rather support non animal/fish stores, fish only stores or buy online. I buy the majority of my stuff online or from WalMart. Sure, I just bought Ben from my pet store but I didn't rescue him. I also bought everything he needed from WalMart so the pet store wouldn't proffit. They made $5 off me, not $100.
Please, don't shoot me!! But if we sit back and look at it, really we're just supporting this treatment right? Why not support a local breeder who works hard to take care of these babies? Why not buy everything at a store that doesn't sell fish in bad tanks/cups? Maybe they will get the point then?
*shrugs*