Absolutely horrid

[jacblades]

as many of you know, i am one of the biggest animal rights activists you will probably ever meet. i am not opposed to professional fighting. no, i wouldnt never invest in fighting stock and fight them myself but i agree these bettas are well taken care of. as wuv said, if someone bought 2 vts from petsmart and said they were gonig to fight them, yes i would be angry and know that was wrong. lfs/fancy/unconditioned bettas are weenies that couldnt stand being fought.

if you are going to send an email to the people at this website, be polite! it completely discredits your argument when you use curse words and insults. if you write such letters, dont be surprised when they send you the same form of letter in return. they see that you think it is effective to act like a 3 year old so they do the same in return, knowing it will get to you.

also be sure to do spellcheck...bad spelling also discredits you.

 

[bkk_group]

It's sick, but not at all shocking.  There's TFF members who fight their bettas, but I'm not going there.

oh, really?

The funny thing is, this person has yet to post in this thread.

i know who you are talking about and just so we are all clear here, there is a difference between "fighting" and "sparring". i see nothing wrong with it, i also see nothing wrong with being interested in the history, training, fighting and healing techniques associated with it.

 

[Sorrell]

I would also like to ask, how many of you who are flipping out over this have female bettas together? I do personally and I have done many things in that tank to make it work. So many times I see people starting female tanks that have 1 plant and maybe a rock and everyone says "Yipee! Female bettas are fun!" Someone explain to me how that is being celebrated and fighting strong healthy bettas is a sin. To me, a poorly planned female tank is much worse.

 

[cometcattle]

It's sick, but not at all shocking.  There's TFF members who fight their bettas, but I'm not going there.

oh, really?

The funny thing is, this person has yet to post in this thread.

i know who you are talking about and just so we are all clear here, there is a difference between "fighting" and "sparring". i see nothing wrong with it, i also see nothing wrong with being interested in the history, training, fighting and healing techniques associated with it.

Then the one in his/her profile that died from "eternal injuries from fight" must have been proud to die with honor. And if it's eternal injuries, that means a slow death, unless this person took x-rays.

Sorry, dog fighting has history, so does cock fighting. I still think it is cruel.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

in order for them to get to me i'd have to care what they think which i don't and i wouldn't consider 1 mispelt word "bad spelling", i never once said they didn't take care of thier bettas, it's what they do with them after they get them big and strong that's dumb.

if dogs and rooster fights are illegal why shouldn't betta fighting be, is it that much more fun to take pride in building a killer betta then dog etc. (which they would do if given the chance), the only reason it is still legal is because a betta can't kill or injure a human if given the chance, its not the history because as someone said there's history in all the fighting

the bettafighters.com people can kiss my butt, but the other site wuv posted (i think it was plakatthai or something like that) was a million times better because they went into the history and what is done with the losing fish (let it go or keep it in a community tank or breed it) i don't even know what the other site does with the losers unless i missed that part of their site.

 

[GP]

Actually they were bred for fighting...

It started in Siam some 150 years ago. The Siamese people would fight bettas, and hence the first form of betta madness was born: People would wager everything they owned, even their families! These betta fights were popular, so much so that the King of Siam decided to license them and to collect on them as well.

- Quote from bettatalk.com

Not that I agree with it, don't get me wrong. It was a way/custom for those people. Just think though, if that hadn't occurred, would we have the darlings that we have now? Just thought I'd inform.

Also, please let me know if I am incorrect.

-- Leigh Ann

It was a custom for those people, who could control the fish. It's not a custom to the fish, it's a cruel manner.

 

[Phantom Thief]

OK, i got the reply back.

Hi Ng,

Thanks for your e-mail and the contents are noted.

www.bettafighters.com does not deny the fact that it is in the business of
supplying serious fight fans (essentially gamblers in the USA) with top grade,
bred-for-battle fighting fish. We don't run away for this basic premise!

How our fighters are fought and what happens to them is really contingent on
the level of compassion or the lack of it on the part of the gamers.

By and large, our fighters are stayers which means to say that they stay the
course of a fight. Some times, they die (fairly rare though) and most of the
time, the fights end with both fighters hitting a stalemate (a draw) or with
one bolting..


The general unwritten rule in fish fighting is to "throw in the towel" if one
fish is being battered. The owner normally will offer a compensatory surrender
and the fight is halted. So, there is compassion in the sport after all, albeit
dictated by surrendering and cutting one's losses. Get the drift?

What has been stated applies strictly to pro arena fights. Backyard fights
amongst hobbyists etc. is a different kettle of fish. Depending on the "heart"
of the players, a fight most often is stopped when one fighter has a definite
advantage over the other.

Ng, this is not a game that is governed by hard and fast rules. However, it is
nowhere close to the abuse that other gaming animals are subjected to - like
race horses, dogs, roosters etc. On the abuse barometer, fighting fish would be
way down towards the super cold end of the mercury!





P.T.

 

[wuvmybetta]

wow, they were very nice and helpful. I'm glad you emailed,I thought about doing it myself last night

 

[GP]

lol, they make them fighters by pissing them off and hitting their tanks and pestering them, no doubt about that.

 

[wuvmybetta]

*sigh*

Maybe you should try and read about it to gain knowledge on the subject matter rather than make assumptions. They actually train like they're going to the Olympics.

 

[thellama]

end the topic ! !

im really sick of reading all this crap ! !

haha

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I think for once everyone has actually behaved like grown ups on thist topic, and it hasn't reduced down to petty cuts. Thellama, why must you insist on us ending this? I think hearing everyone's point of view is nice, and I for one am quite happy to listen to everyone.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Recieved an afterthought from them...

Just an after-thought Ng!

Have you ever been out to the arenas where fish are fought - whether they be in
Cheras (KL), Ipoh, Penang, Haadyai, Patani, Pataya, Bangkok, Petchburi etc.?
If you've not been there, go for an experience and be prepared to be shocked
out of your wits! There is no compassion showed to fish that are fought. They
are either thrown away in ditches, left in plastic buckets with other spent
fighters or fed to carnivourous fish like flower horns or arrowanas.

This is a sstatement of fact and we know!

www.bettafighters.com



I have asked them for specifics, and if possible, i will try to persuade my parents to bring me along to one of these events, so that i can see how true it is.

P.T.

 

[bkk_group]

Recieved an afterthought from them...

Just an after-thought Ng!

Have you ever been out to the arenas where fish are fought - whether they be in
Cheras (KL), Ipoh, Penang, Haadyai, Patani, Pataya, Bangkok, Petchburi etc.?
If you've not been there, go for an experience and be prepared to be shocked
out of your wits! There is no compassion showed to fish that are fought. They
are either thrown away in ditches, left in plastic buckets with other spent
fighters or fed to carnivourous fish like flower horns or arrowanas.

This is a sstatement of fact and we know!

www.bettafighters.com



I have asked them for specifics, and if possible, i will try to persuade my parents to bring me along to one of these events, so that i can see how true it is.

P.T.

i'm not really sure where he is going with that. is he implying that the fights in america (his target market) are in some way "better" than the traditional venues? or is he saying that compared to thai and viet fighters and breeders, americans show more compassion? i would argue that point myself, i have heard on my forum from many thai who fight their fish and i know the compassion is there, some have been at it for over 30 years and love their fish as much as a fish can be loved.

 

[BlueIce]

You speak as though you're talking directly to betta fighters. Those people aren't here.

I think you guys are thinking of pretty long veiltails when you say things like that. When in fact, true fighters are stocky, conditioned extremely well and actually treated better than most of our/your bettas.

Go do some water changes before you throw stones at people.And FYI, there's a large percentage of members here who think we're all disgusting and cruel for keeping our bettas in 1 gallon tanks, different strokes for different folks.

I think we should all sit and cry about the 100,000+ bettas who are dying in cups at shops right now, rather than tsk tsk these pricey well treated fish

i stopped reading this after i read your posts...it is SO nice to see someone actually think this through and make some sense! Kudos to you for recognizing an age old custom and using common sense instead of jumping on the band wagon with little or no knowledge of the practice of fighting bettas .