Also, I hope they catch the jerk who seems to think it's a good idea to do these things to those poor fish. He deserves to be fired.

Who said that it was a HE.. It could just as easily be a female doing this..

AND, where was it established that it is an employee doing it?? Are the tops of the tanks not accessable to the general public??

 

AND, where was it established that it is an employee doing it?? Are the tops of the tanks not accessable to the general public??

Well, if it happens say... Every other day or even a couple of times a week (the employee said that someone has been putting the bettas in tanks recently), it would be a less likely that it wasn't an employee. I mean, that is some dedication the person has to return to the same store multiple times to mess with some bettas.

I almost feel like it is a misguided person who thinks they are helping the bettas by sneakily sticking them in tanks and not realizing that what they are doing is actually harmful. But maybe I'm feeling too optimistic at moment... Poor fishies. I hope the Walmart employee figures out what is going on.

 

Geez that's awful.Those walmart stores over there seem to be (alot of the time) very uncaring towards the poor little bettas.It sounds like they just put the poor little things on a shelf and forget about them,like they're a tin of peas or something.:-?

 

You're right, Backlash! The culprit could as easily be a lady.
I don't think it was a member of the general public; from what I've seen, the tops of the tanks have a round metallic circle on them, and the employees have to use a kind of key to access them. Then again, the lids could be loose; I didn't try them, because I thought if I did, I would get in trouble, and I figured this sort of thing was best accomplished with the help of an employee. Also, it's a new store, so I didn't think they would be loose.
FengHuang, I don't know if anyone would have that kind of dedication, because gas is ridiculously expensive. Even if they were within walking distance, it's starting to heat up here, and Sunday is expected to hit 100 degrees! You're right, though; the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and if that person's motive is to help,then they are really misguided. I mean, those tanks are overcrowded as it is, and if that person cared that much about fish, they would know that bettas are aggressive towards anything in a small space. But if we were to continue using my admittedly shaky knowledge of the lids, then it can only be assumed it's an employee, possibly someone who works a different shift from the woman who helped me and those bettas. I don't know if she did it; I think if she was behind it, she would have been a lot more apprehensive to take action, or written me off completely. But then it raises the question-why didn't she do anything before? I dislike that I had to bring it to her attention, but is it defeatist of me to say that I'm more glad that she decided to help? Perhaps she isn't as caring as I originally thought. I hope they find out who it is though, and soon too. Those walmart bettas have enough trouble to deal with.
At Polkadot, that's true for the most part. I haven't seen a walmart yet that really puts much effort into fish care. Are they nicer in Australia?

 

At Polkadot, that's true for the most part. I haven't seen a walmart yet that really puts much effort into fish care. Are they nicer in Australia?

Hi quietlythundering,
We don't have huge stores like walmart here (yet) that sell pets and everything else together.The only places I've ever seen bettas sold are at proper petstores & aquariums.The stores here aren't as mega sized like walmart so it is much easier to keep an eye on things.The regular petstore I go to alot (& others I've been too) have the bettas very close to the counter and they are right in front of the employees so the public cannot access them without being seen,which is good.Overall the petstores/aquariums (the ones I've been to anyway) seem to mostly look after their bettas well,especially my local petstore who are very good.

 

Well, if it's an ignorant employee doing this, a simple hand written sign saying "Employees.... Do NOT place Betta's in these tanks... from Management.." could solve the problem..

 

At our nearest Walmart the lids don't have locks or anything on them so it's just as easy to dump in a Betta from the shelf when no one is looking. That sucks though, I'm glad that employee works there!

I worked my Wal-mart a little while back (I was in the toy section though) and I almost want to apply back to the other wal-mart down the road that has the fish so I could just take care of them. Unfortunately, knowing how wal-mart works, I would have little to no time to actually take care of them since they like to keep their staff unstocked to "save money" and so then all of us employee's left get to run around like chickens with our heads cut off >.<

I still can't get over the fact that you carry Prime around with you, you're my hero! haha

 

Seriously though. I haven't been back this weekend, but if nothing has changed by the next time I go back, I'm complaining to the manager.
Oh wow. I hope it doesn't happen at the store near you guys D:
That sucks. I mean, I know that these places aren't worker friendly, but wow....and thank you. The bottle I carry my prime in used to hold really cheap water conditioner (back before I knew about the good stuff) so when I got prime I just washed out the old conditioner and filled it up with prime. It's lid has a tiny hole in the top, perfect for measuring doses by drop, which is why it makes it so easy to carry it around.
That sounds idyllic, Polkadot. I wish our stores were still kinda like that. Our big chain pets stores are huge, so while I'm sure employees try their best to look after everything (for the most part) something or some poor animal gets lost in the hubbub of it all. That's why you'll hear terrible stories about betta treatment, even in pet stores. Still, even the local ones we have here aren't all that great for fish either. One of the most prominent of these is praised for it's animal care, wide range of products, and it's length in business, and yet I haven't been there in months because the last time I was there, their bettas looked beat up and scraggly looking. The same can be said about Walmart bettas; they get lost in the fray, and consequently, end up the losers.