Fish cruelty at its best... or maybe worst

[connorlindeman]

went to petco today and saw this.

 

[Mick85]

poor fish

 

[itiwhetu]

If people stop buying them, then the shops will stop stocking them.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Over the last few years there have been several instances where people have complained so many times that Petco and other pet related stores have actually stopped stocking/selling live fish

The best way to deal with this is to write to the manager and complain and keep complaining until they either stock Betta in decent display aquaria or they stop selling them altogether.

Just write a polite, non-aggressive letter explaining how cruel the cup practice is and suggesting alternatives. Get friends and family to do the same....keep it polite and non-aggressive. If that fails, then write to whoever is in charge of livestock buying at the HQ, share photo's with him/her...again be polite and non-aggressive and state that you and others feel that the practice is cruelty and that other branches have stopped doing it or stopped stocking livestock completely

 

[otterblue]

Over the last few years there have been several instances where people have complained so many times that Petco and other pet related stores have actually stopped stocking/selling live fish

The best way to deal with this is to write to the manager and complain and keep complaining until they either stock Betta in decent display aquaria or they stop selling them altogether.

Just write a polite, non-aggressive letter explaining how cruel the cup practice is and suggesting alternatives. Get friends and family to do the same....keep it polite and non-aggressive. If that fails, then write to whoever is in charge of livestock buying at the HQ, share photo's with him/her...again be polite and non-aggressive and state that you and others feel that the practice is cruelty and that other branches have stopped doing it or stopped stocking livestock completely

And add that you'll no longer shop at their stores until they change their policy (and follow through with that). They'll only care about their bottom line.

 

[Fishmanic]

I wonder if they change the betta's water in those cups very often. If they don't, ammonia will build up. Also the cups lack heating and the betta would be very uncomfortable as they like it around 78 degrees F.

 

[Colin_T]

I wonder if they change the betta's water in those cups very often. If they don't, ammonia will build up. Also the cups lack heating and the betta would be very uncomfortable as they like it around 78 degrees F.

They might be in a fish room where the temperature is constant.

My concern is whether the lids have holes in for fresh air to get into the container.

 

[Fishmanic]

There is a half inch hole on the top of the cup.

 

[itiwhetu]

They might be in a fish room where the temperature is constant.

My concern is whether the lids have holes in for fresh air to get into the container.

Go Colin, defend the retailer. This is rubbish in this day and age, this type of behavior should have been banned twenty years ago. No excuses, it is wrong. Go to the Manager and say " What the heck".

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

This is how betta could be displayed and is a consequence of customer pressure, apparently;

 

[DoubleDutch]

Even on this forum (and others) there are people that persist in telling that selling Bettas in this way is perfectly allright and they even need small amounts of water to be kept in.

This is not my cup of tea (what's in a word).
Visited the worldfamous Pier Aquatics in Wigan some years back. Bettas were even sold in smaller cups than these (Chinese lamps)

I think it is a shame but maybe someone can explain why this is a good idea. I don't understand this.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

This is footage found online of a store in Vietnam....where fish are said to be badly treated....granted the way the fish are displayed is far from ideal but it certainly seems to be a slightly more humane method than the pet shop cups..

 

[Colin_T]

I'm not saying it's the best way to keep them, but it is a practical way to keep large numbers of them. Most customers want variety and the shops carry a number of fish for the customers. The shops can't put the fish in normal tanks with other fish because they get bashed so they keep them in the little containers.

It's a compromise. You lot want variety, the shops need to carry quantity for you. Then you complain about the lack of room the fish have. If you don't want to see Bettas in small containers, encourage the shop to build small aquariums, or don't buy Bettas. They are a man made mutant anyway.

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

This is how betta could be displayed and is a consequence of customer pressure, apparently;

This is how they're kept at the Maidenhead Aquatics shop nearby, except on the same system as the other fish like you see along the back in that video. Can't believe that there are really shops today that still put bettas in such dreadful conditions, it almost makes Maidenhead chains look like a damn animal sanctuary.

 

[emeraldking]

Well, I do understand the concern of people when seeing those bettas in small cups or small containers. And I won't argue with that. But I also understand why this has been done for years. Labyrinth fish (where bettas belong to) are able to stay well in oxygen-poor water for a long period of time. And in general most bettas (in this case, the ones derived from the Betta splendens) are not the most active swimmers. There are also betta species that are much more vivid than the Betta splendens.
If you feel bad about how they are displayed, please don't go to a wholesaler. They're in even more smaller cups than the ones shown overhere.

The presentation in the reply of wasmewasntit, is something you'll see quite often as well. It seems also that in such small tanks, those fish seem more alive. But that's because they see their reflection in there, which makes them more vivid. Because they think they see another male to compete with.