Not a rant, but the truth, might hurt..

[chelsmarie23]

My opinion is very small and not as critically thought out as most of you, but as I do agree that buying those fish is feeding the fire. But what else is one single person going to do? Give the poor thing a good home that's what. If I was a sick dying fish and someone saved me (assuming I had a normal thought process), I would be thankful. And those fish at least feel better once they are back to good health. Every animal deserves a good home and someone to love it. I don't think it is a pity purchase. I think it is a self-less thing to do for a sick animal. It really isn't that much different than buying a pet from the animal shelter. There is a good chance it would probably be put to sleep if no one bought it.

As of now, the way to deal with it in my opinion is send nasty e-mails and telling some managers some choice words and such. Maybe even leave letters like I've heard a couple people on this site have already done. It at least does something. :)

[chelsmarie23]

Also let me add, I am very pleased with myself that I bought Ignacio. He would have been dead if I hadn't got him, but now he is happy, healthy, and my friend. He keeps me company and brightens my day. ^_^

[MrVampire181]

I have my reasons for only buying from breeders but if I had to buy from any chain store it would be PetCo...they have the best care for their fish out of all of them.

[FuulieQ]

Originally Posted by MrVampire181

I have my reasons for only buying from breeders but if I had to buy from any chain store it would be PetCo...they have the best care for their fish out of all of them.

Agreed.

I personally won't smash anyone for buying a sick animal. I've never been a fan of sacrificing a few for the good of the many. No animals should have to be allowed to suffer and die. There are other ways, better ones, such as raising awareness and kicking up a stink in any pet shop that neglects.

[Aluyasha]

This is a tough subject. For starters, my Petsmart takes great care of their fish. However, I have heard some of you say that their Petsmarts are horrid. So how can I support a good petstore if it is also a bad one (in a sense)?

This is one of those ageless questions. Some think that people should not buy and that will eventually fix the problem. While others think that we should buy the Bettas and it will not make it better or worse. While others still think, that enstead we must try to educate the public and the petstores.
I personally, think that it is better to try to educate the petstores as it will help everyone in the long run. Not only would the animals be treated properly, but new owners would learn how to take care for their pets by actually being informed by the petstores.

If one Petco took horrid care of their pets and the others did not, then that store needs to be educated. Not buying from all Petcos would not help. I think anyway.
This topic has many different tactics. I really do not know what the right answer is. They all have vaild points.

[Thunderloon]

Most breeders that supply to petco/walmart/petsupermarket/petsmart aren't breeding to supply the stores. They sell the fish to the stores to support their more complex and special breeding. They're trying to be the first to produce much better bigger more awesome betta.

Petco has started handling halfmoon, double tail, delta and king. This is great because it encourages interest in betta but its also bad because the standard practice is to have a selection of every type on the shelf instead of limiting the total number better. But even this situation doesn't stress me too much.

What distresses me is when I go in to a petco or a walmart and someone cupped a girl who is still a fry. Fry run on little fish hormones to grow, their water conditions never have a chance to go bad because the fry can't eat the food the store gives them IF they feed and they're not big enough to soil the water from what they've already eaten.

Friday I went to see about a couple girls and one of the three small ones woke up to say Hi to me then I watched as she exhausted what little energy she had left responding to my attention then fell over on her side in the bottom of the cup. She woke and tried to get air but died within thirty seconds, little fish bapping her eye against the bottom trying to make her body work. If you want to be incensed over treatment, be angry at the breeders and suppliers who cup fish that have zero chance of survival without immediate purchase. There's a difference between just getting too many and hoping people will buy them so you don't have to cull them and shoving it all out the door to reduce overhead.

I brought the manager back there and described to her what happened loudly enough for all the parents to hear, she'll remember to discuss it forcefully with the supplier. I left with two girls, Fins and a red one I've not named.

[Aluyasha]

I have seen that same problem at my Petco. All their females were so tiny and young that they still did not have colour!. And almost all of them were dead and dying.

On the other hand. All my Petsmart's ones seem to be decently large adults, including the females.

[MrVampire181]

I've seen very young females at PetCo but if someone buys them and takes proper care of them they will grow.

IMO people are going to want bettas and no matter what we do there will be no changing the stores mind about selling them...just try and educate them and buy if you wish.

[Astro277]

Not sure if anyone posted this before or not... havent read other posts yet but....

I feel if you can get a fish from a LF for free because it being half dead or something and knowing you can bring it back is awesome but to go and actully buy one of these fish is not actully helping them at all. In fact its just makeing more room for another healthy fish to rot away watching its short life go bye in a cup.

We should make a petition and have people sign(type) and give there word not to cave in and buy a LF betta.

[LolaQuigs]

This is something I've really thought about a lot, and there is a lot to be said for both sides. However, when it comes down to it, bettas cost pet stores about 50 cents per fish. Even if many of them die and not many are bought, they are still certain to profit when they are selling each fish for 2-15 dollars. So even if people choose not to buy from pet stores, the few who do will be ensuring that the company still profits. People will continue to patronize these places, and unless a mass boycott takes place (and various organizations have sadly tried and failed), these stores will continue to thrive and sell live animals. Deciding not to buy a fish and keeping quiet about it will do nothing. Deciding not to buy a fish and writing a letter/email/complaint to the company or local district would be more helpful. Even buying a fish and voicing your opinion about conditions is more beneficial than opting not to buy and saying nothing at all; at least your voice is being heard.

That said, I strongly believe that one person choosing not to buy one inexpensive fish will do nothing to change the business's practices. However one person buying a sick fish that would otherwise rot makes a world of difference to that fish. Again, this is a personal ethical choice and there are logical arguments for both sides; I just wanted to give my reasoning for feeling the need to rescue the sick fish I have rescued.