went to petco today and saw this.
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
They might be in a fish room where the temperature is constant.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.
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".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.
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.This is how betta could be displayed and is a consequence of customer pressure, apparently;