Absolutely Horrified

[smegforbrains]

Went up to Maidstone yesterday with the wife and we thought we would pop in to the LFS just outside Maidstone (north side, on the A20).


Having a good goosey round and came across a 60cm wide by 15cm deep and 15cm tall tank divided up into 50mm wide compartments to house Bettas, that is each Betta having a space 50mm x 150mm x 150mm - not even sufficient space to turn around in comfort! That is only ONE single litre of water!


12 individual prison cells! 8 occupied by VERY unhappy and VERY lethargic fish. One was so obviously about to pass away I just couldn't stay there. I had to walk out before I blew my lid.


I really wish I could fit more tanks in here at home. They need rescuing as a matter of priority. The poor guys and gals do not deserve to be treated like that! Absolutely heinous!

 

[AdAndrews]

its a shame- i know this isnt related but pet shops treat animals like shi*, in my pet shop they had 4 hens crammed in wat was basically a meter square run. similar to the betta's they probably couldnt move. sick what people do to make money

i cant understand it tho, it doesnt want to make you buy it when its under thouseterrible conditions

 

[Robot_Rooster]

you should see the one i got to every week for a gander. you walk in all the fish are well looked after in the tanks stacked on tanks and you look at the top you would see bettas in tiny plastic tubs with not filter or anything. and every week i count how many are alive (there are always a greater number of them dead than alive)

 

[Goodygumdrops]

God,you think that's bad.I went into a fish shop in Stirling at the weekend and they had bettas in pint glasses.

 

[Robot_Rooster]

God,you think that's bad.I went into a fish shop in Stirling at the weekend and they had bettas in pint glasses.

how is that shop still open?

 

[Nick16]

alright lets not try to 'top' each other. DO NOT buy the bettas as unfortunately, this means the shop will get more in as they are clearly 'selling'. whereas if you do not buy the betta, the shop may realise they are not selling and move them to betta (see what i did there ) accomodation. the shop may think the fish is lethargic and therefore unnattractive to customers. also, have you guys never realised LFS's are not here to make friends, revenue and profit is all they care about and if they can keep their total costs down, the margin for profit will be larger. (providing the revenue is more than the costs )

 

[Goodygumdrops]

God,you think that's bad.I went into a fish shop in Stirling at the weekend and they had bettas in pint glasses.

how is that shop still open?

AND died parrot fish,doing well huh?

 

[tibby25731]

I hate when that happens, i get very angry very quickly. but it can be so hard to walk away and leave a fish to die....

 

[LauraFrog]

No offence but one litre is nothing... I have seen bettas kept in 250ml drinking glasses and unable to even sit horizontally in the water because the container was too narrow. I rescued one of those, and it took me a month and a ridiculous amount of oxytet to cure the finrot. I must have gone through what the fish was worth in medication.

 

[Gemini]

People are so mean to Betta fish. Pet shops are always carrying misleading products like tiny Betta bowls as if it was a suitable permanent home for a Fish. They don't make any attempt to explain to the consumer that the fish needs heating, filtration or a varied diet.

I really don't like that. I would be much more eager to walk into a pet store if I knew it would be a little more enlightening. Sales reps should actually tell you facts about the species you're looking at, and the proper minimum requirements. You'd see animals going to lots better homes. But honestly, it's not so much what I see at pet shops that scares me, as much as what I don't see.

 

[Kekmet]

Our lfs now prints 'this is not suitable for a permanent home for your betta' on the top of those little containers. There's a poster with some betta facts on it, one of them being 'they like a 1+ gallon tank.' Of course, the tiny little bowls are still sold right underneath the shelf where the fish are kept.

And they're usually almost sold out!

 

[Truck]

why rescue them? it just gives the LFs more space to fill

 

[bae1994]

Went up to Maidstone yesterday with the wife and we thought we would pop in to the LFS just outside Maidstone (north side, on the A20).


Having a good goosey round and came across a 60cm wide by 15cm deep and 15cm tall tank divided up into 50mm wide compartments to house Bettas, that is each Betta having a space 50mm x 150mm x 150mm - not even sufficient space to turn around in comfort! That is only ONE single litre of water!


12 individual prison cells! 8 occupied by VERY unhappy and VERY lethargic fish. One was so obviously about to pass away I just couldn't stay there. I had to walk out before I blew my lid.


I really wish I could fit more tanks in here at home. They need rescuing as a matter of priority. The poor guys and gals do not deserve to be treated like that! Absolutely heinous!

you should of looked for sutable tanks that where already setup grabbed a net and do it yourself and when they asked what you where doing say you where with the rspca and youd be sending a letter and keeping an eye on them that would sort em out

 

[JasonU]

God,you think that's bad.I went into a fish shop in Stirling at the weekend and they had bettas in pint glasses.

Where in Stirling was that?

I was in Dobbies last weekend, they had a stunning looking betta, if I lived closer to Stirling I would probably have bought him. I was suprised by how healthy the fish in Dobbies were. I would not have expected such a large store to have looked after their fish so well.