Ethical Dilemma...

[poopsydrew]

Hey everyone,
Ok, I am usually not the type to complain about much and am pretty easygoing. However, i was at wal-mart picking up some airtubing (I would never buy fish from there!) Anyway i walked buy a 2.5 gallon tank and i am not exaggerating, there was 70-100 .5-1.5 inch "feeder fish" (i think they are some kind of guppy) It was disgusting to look at! I could barely see the water, at least 10 were dead, 5 were floating upside down STILL ALIVE, slowly dying. I know i cant take on wal-mart but there has to be some kind of laws regulating the amount that can be kept in a tank in a fish store. I understand lfs overstock to some degree but this was cruelty!! I cant sit around and do nothing i just cant...what can i do?? Talk to the manager? I just have a feeling i cant do anything, i mean its walmart...

-I cant stress enough how grossly stocked this was...people will say oh thats just the way it is but i have never ever seen it like this before, feeder fish or not this has to be illegal??!! Whats to stop them from putting 200 or 300 in then??!

I want to help!

 

[mcdanielnc89]

yeeeeeeeeeesh,,, lol.. im sure there is something.. altough.. missouri's governor isn't going to do snything. he's jsut as dumb... lol... but.. im sure theres limescale in the tanks and everything else which is a health hazard for wal-mart

 

[iairj84]

Ya I don't know what to say at all. I've seen LFS nastier than the wal-mart here (not saying it's nice at all, but still) 100 guppies in a 2.5 gallon is really pushing it though!!

 

[poopsydrew]

See theres the thing, i really do get it that lfs and walkmart and petcos etc sell fish to make a profit, but where is the line??!! I mean there are seriously no animal cruelty laws when it comes to selling fish?? there has to be! If i could take a picture of this tank i think this thread would get more hits! I am going to talk to the manager sometime...but i know that wont do anything, he or she will just act like they care and nothing will be done....this just isnt right

 

[mcdanielnc89]

giv'em a kick en the rear end.. lol..

 

[pica_nuttalli]

are you sure it was a 2.5g? the standard size store tank is generally around 20g...

 

[poopsydrew]

are you sure it was a 2.5g? the standard size store tank is generally around 20g...

pica,
i can assure you it was not a 20 gallon! it was a very small individual aquarium, i cant say for sure it was 2.5 but it wasnt big enough to be a 5 i promise! any suggestions?

 

[wendywc]

I'm split on this. On one hand, everyone's probably right I guess, that the typical Walmart manager wouldn't do anything about it. But then again, how do you know if you don't try? Also, many Walmart locations have stopped selling fish because they didn't have the demand for fish and/or couldn't maintain the speciality fish department with their general staff... or whatever the reasons may be. So it logically makes sense that Walmart (corporate) is probably more aware of their fish department problems then we think. So I also believe a good, thoughtful, and concerned write-up to Walmart corporate would be beneficial. And you never know, maybe a nice conversation with an employee or a manager might make a difference afterall.

 

[poopsydrew]

Thank you wendy,
I am gonna try my best and talk with multiple people if i have to...if i can just make a little difference on one store that would be great! and if not, i wont have this on my conscious because i will know i have tried to do the right thing.. thanks to everyone

 

[iairj84]

I definately agree that something should be done, I just hope the manager of the store or department is a little understanding... Go in speaking with respect and don't talk down to them. I can only imagine how many people must complain to the wal-mart managers on a daily basis and you need to make sure you aren't just another silly complaint. Offer to show the manager what you were speaking about and offer an easy solution for them (Maybe setting up a 29 gallon kit that they sell) it still might not be ideal but it would be a much better situation for the fish.

I agree that things like these are gross and something needs to be done, but at the same time you have to do things rationally and you can't get things done, especially in the retail business without talking things out rationally... Possibly even calling in advance to let them know you would like to speak with them. If that doesn't work then call the district manager. The number should be at the customer service counter.

I like to save as much money as the next guy but try and support your local stores even when buying things like food, I know they're a little more expensive but that's where the stores stay afloat. It's not the fish that we think are so overpriced that do it.

 

[MikeD67]

the only thing you can do is say something really fish dont fall under the pet category not even in legal papers example you rent a apartment says no pets fish are never considered pet and are allowed everytime I go to walmart I go to the fish section find all the dead fish tell the person working area to get manager and I point out every dead fish and tell them its rediculous and makes there company look bad I think there tired of me now but I still do it.

 

[Bozza]

I saw something like that in LA. It was a Petsmart. It was maybe a 2ft with 100's of feeder goldfish.

 

[rdd1952]

I'm split on this. On one hand, everyone's probably right I guess, that the typical Walmart manager wouldn't do anything about it. But then again, how do you know if you don't try? Also, many Walmart locations have stopped selling fish because they didn't have the demand for fish and/or couldn't maintain the speciality fish department with their general staff... or whatever the reasons may be. So it logically makes sense that Walmart (corporate) is probably more aware of their fish department problems then we think. So I also believe a good, thoughtful, and concerned write-up to Walmart corporate would be beneficial. And you never know, maybe a nice conversation with an employee or a manager might make a difference afterall.

Trust me, people have tried. If you search back for "walmart" you will find many, many threads about them. I personally have talked to the manager in 2 different WMs near me and I would have better success talking to a wall. I also wrote a letter to the company President and sent an email through their website and never heard anything back.

To them it is all about money. They don't care one bit about how some fish is treated. They use the fish as a loss leader to sell the equipment. I personally will not set foot in a Walmart any more. In my opinion, buying equipment there, even though it is cheap, is just helping them continue their mass fish killings. If we don't buy fish equipment from them, then keeping live fish (and I say that almost tongue in cheek as there are almost as many dead ones as live ones) will soon become very unprofitable and they will stop keeping fish which is already happening in some areas. I do know that the new WM that just opened within 3 miles of me does not have fish.

 

[Zeoth]

I'm split on this. On one hand, everyone's probably right I guess, that the typical Walmart manager wouldn't do anything about it. But then again, how do you know if you don't try? Also, many Walmart locations have stopped selling fish because they didn't have the demand for fish and/or couldn't maintain the speciality fish department with their general staff... or whatever the reasons may be. So it logically makes sense that Walmart (corporate) is probably more aware of their fish department problems then we think. So I also believe a good, thoughtful, and concerned write-up to Walmart corporate would be beneficial. And you never know, maybe a nice conversation with an employee or a manager might make a difference afterall.

smart guy, smart guy....

 

[poopsydrew]

I'm split on this. On one hand, everyone's probably right I guess, that the typical Walmart manager wouldn't do anything about it. But then again, how do you know if you don't try? Also, many Walmart locations have stopped selling fish because they didn't have the demand for fish and/or couldn't maintain the speciality fish department with their general staff... or whatever the reasons may be. So it logically makes sense that Walmart (corporate) is probably more aware of their fish department problems then we think. So I also believe a good, thoughtful, and concerned write-up to Walmart corporate would be beneficial. And you never know, maybe a nice conversation with an employee or a manager might make a difference afterall.

smart guy, smart guy....

I like scorpion way better..."Come here!" I miss that game!!