BETTA HORROR STORY

[poindexter]

So today I went into Cambridge to do some boxing day shopping and on the way out of the mall i saw a Super Pet that I have never been to. So being the fish addict that i am, we stopped in.
Went over to the fish section right away, obviously! I am obsessed with bettas so i went to find them right away. I found a whole big shelf of them in cute little glass bowls (much larger than the usual cuppy things), i thought that was great. So i said to the dude, oh cool are these all of ur bettas? and he said, oh hang on we have some more in the back. GUESS WHAT HE BRINGS OUT! a shopping basket piled with tiny bags of bettas. these bags were smaller than the size of a post it note, and they had maybe two tablespoons at the most of water in them. The guy said "yah this is how we get them shipped into us from Singapore".....
So i'm standing there practically crying, my sister said it was really obvious how upset i was ....so i told him that i was "looking for soemthing specific" and made sure to pick up every tiny baggy and place it upright in neat little rows, so that all the bettas would at the very least be able to live.
I was so shaken up by this, it has GOT to be cruelty. i think i will have nightmares tonite......i wish i could have saved them, but buying them all would only have doomed many more to this torture. *sigh*
so i guess my one request of everyone would be to boycott Super Pets bettas....after seeing this, i'll never be going back there again. phew k i'm done ranting.
~dEx

 

[wuvmybetta]

Betta's have terrible experiences in all pet shops , just think...every betta has a story that could break your heart (just like people). That's the only way I've ever seen them delivered..in little bags. And imo that's far better than being shipped in cups where they could easily tip over and spill

Even my little high dollar orange bettas came in the mail in plastic bags with maybe a cup of water in them. And they were from a very reputable dealer

 

[poindexter]

a cup would have been considered generous by these bettas....it was really just enough water to cover them....i guess it just broke my heart...hehe my mother has always said that i get my feelings hurt easily(gramps hurt my feelings when i was three...he said he didnt even know three year olds had feelings!)...i was just really shocked....*sigh* i just really had no idea baggies were used...and when he said from Singapore, i nearly fell over. hehe i'm quite sensitive. ~dEx

 

[Sasha]

How could bettas be shipped in little bags! They should be shipped in containers or something to enable them to swim around. I'd seen bettas in cups with only an inch of water. I agree with you. A cup of water would have been fine for them and at least they could have a little space to move. Bettas are beautiful fish and should be respected, like all the people here who love and care for their little fishes in respectful ways. I don't what I'd do if I saw what you witnessed. My heart would be broken for sure!

 

[wuvmybetta]

Shipping fish isn't easy, they have to get from one place to another somehow, and cost efficiently

I was at my lfs the other day when they got a shipment of saltwater fish in, my friend who works there was so excited to show me how they come in because I didn't believe her when she told me how they're shipped

They come VACUUM SEALED like meat that you sometimes see ,uhhhm..ham for example. They're vacuum sealed in little 5 inch by 5 inch FLAT containers that unfold like a wallet picture holder (did that make sense?) unbelievable, but that's just how it is

 

[poindexter]

how do they live?

 

[poindexter]

actually thats sorta how these bettas were....did those salties have like a lil pocket of air too or was it all vacuumed out?

 

[juliethegr8t]

I'm very sensitive like you poindexter, and my mom was at Petco once when they got in a new shipment of fish. She said the bettas were in little containers about 1/3 of the size of the cups they are in the stores. They couldn't even move. And to think I was upset when the bettas at Walmart's cups weren't all the way full!

Wuv, that surprises me that your plakats came in only a cup of water. You'd think she could give them a bit more room, but I guess maybe the less water, the less weight = cheapest? Also, the saltwater thing... omg! And these fish are the sensitive ones!!

 

[wuvmybetta]

Yeah dex....they had little bubbles of air

and julie... ,it's done for weight but honestly...I was kind of surprised to see them like that too and I think I was exaggerating by saying a cup, it was probably even less than that

 

[Phantom Thief]

Hey everyone!

You call THIS a horror story? come visit me sometime. I'll show you a lfs that doesnt just receive them like this, it SELLS and DISPLAYS them like this. Now THAT is a horror story. poor bettas. One of the most, if not THE most, abused fish in the world.

P.T.

 

[Where the river goes]

that's awful

but shows the resiliance and toughness of bettas if you ask me, surviving what has to be a very difficult (to say the least) experience for them.

 

[White Whale]

Yesterday I went to PETCO because they had a delivery due Thursday but were delivered Wednesday evening. When I got there on Friday, it was odd that it looked less than the amount they had on Wednesday. They already had 59(!) dead plus 3 with fungus. One of the guys did NOT take care of them before the 1-day store holiday closing. The other employees were baffled why so many died. The a*hole probably wanted to leave early the day before and he probably just put unconditioned water in those cups and then said "all done" so he could go home. If I knew THAT was going to happen, I would have done the water changes for free.

 

[Phantom Thief]

GOD!

Someone must really do something about this betta abuse! Something MUST be done! Why not us here at the forum? Come on! All betta lovers! We must at least try to do something...cant we?

P.T.

 

[my_fallen_angel]

thats how all the bettas around here are shipped.
I think its terrible,
But my lfs always put them in bigger tanks when they get them.
They must loose so many of them when they recieve them.
Poor little guys.