Kaynes Pets (Lfs In Nottingham)

[dudleyd]

To be honest I've never heard of anyone report cruelty of fish to the RSPCA, i just assumed that it would be taken as seriously as any other crime against an animal. May be we shold start a petition on the number10 website. I didn't mean to go off on one, and apologise.

Guess it frustraits me as mush as it frustraits everyone else.

 

[Nick16]

just to add:

neon gravel is not good for most fish. a darker gravel is far prefered as it reflects most fishes natural environment of dark rocks or the mud of a lake or river bed.
fish feel far more secure with a darker gravel and will often show more vivd colours.

i dont really agree with slating shops in public, but there isnt anything we can do as they ignore advice.

 

[Shred]

Dudleyd, do a search on these forums for other threads like this. I've haven't been on this forum for very long but I've seen at least 3 threads in the same vien. The RSPCA don't care about fish, and in most circumstances neither do the local authorities or councils, end of.

EDIT: Sorry this was posted before I had read from Curiositys last post down.

 

[Curiosity101]

I'm not annoyed. Your heart it in the right place
I reckon there probably is a petition, it comes up from time to time. But there just isn't enough 'correct information' about fish that is widely available. You know like there is about cats, dogs, small furries etc.

Also you can't hear a fish when it's in pain. So often when fish die get ill or die within a few months that's what people expect. Cause 'Fish don't live very long anyways right?' *Sigh*

Prime example...petsathomes protocol for someone getting a new tank is to 'Fill it and let it run for a week before adding fish' and they are 'following the advice of their vets'.
You can directly quote me on that, cause I've tried to explain to pets at home fish keepers many many times. But the ones who are just doing it as a job (and so just follow whatever they're told), will just tell you that.

Edit: @Nick - I was trying to phrase it as much as a warning to possible cutomers more than anything. It was only one visit, but the attitude I was given was what made me feel strong enough to post here.

 

[dudleyd]

I'll e mail the RSPCA (mentioning no names, places or forums of course) and see if they can clarify their policy on fish shops. Surely as a charity that is for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals they can't pick and choose what animals they rescue. I think it would be interesting to see what they say.

I hope it's not "Sorry we only save cute animals, manky fish don't draw in the donations as well as puppy dogs."

I'll properly kick off if they do.

EDIT: I've been in a P@H when fish advice is being given out by employes. *shakes head*

 

[Curiosity101]

I can tell you strait away what they'll say, lol.

The normal line is 'We don't cover it your local council do'

And then when you e-mail the local council 'We don't deal with it, try an animal charity like the rspca'

Pass the buck much...

 

[emma12321]

environmental health is who it should be reported to they say yes we will check it out yes we will get back to you and then never do unlike RSPCA who are not the slighted bit interested and tell you this from the start.

 

[dudleyd]

Interesting thing on telly this morning about the RSPCA wo went to visit a pub who had a thin fish tank in front of the toilet cistern that made it look like to water from the tank was being used to flush the toilet. If that makes sense.

The RSPCA woman said before they went in that "fish are treated by the RSPCA as all other animals are". (It'll probably be on iplayer.) So off they went inside to find 4 big goldfish in about 4 gallons of water. The response, "well that looks fine, there are no problems here. Have a nice day".

So there we go.

 

[star4]

I had this with a shop near me, It is the council's responcibility, Phone them nag them and if they tell you to contact an animal charity, remind them the council has given the shop a licence to trade in animals and it is their duty to investigate your complaint.

 

[VickiandKev]

I'm sad to see yet another pet shop is not fulfilling it's responsibilities towards the animals.

I don't usually see too many 'bad' shops as I tend to only go into specialist aquatics stores and always point out anything I see amiss in the tanks (which, luckily, isn't too often). I can't bear to see the small furries in the middle of the shop and then walk to the back to find the poor fish in a ten times worse state

I have to also add that Pets at Home may well be going on the advice of their vets, as vets aren't taught the finer details about fishkeeping in their course usually. It's classed a specialist area.
We only hear about fish on our course as a footnote usually, and have done only one fish dissection in the course to date (I'm at the end of the second term of second year in a Vet Med course).

Unfortunately, it's a lack of education on all levels - but most vets would be honest enough to say that they do not know the details of what they are advising on and do a bit of research first!!

 

[Assaye]

Seriously, the RSPCA don't care about fish. I phoned them once to complain about a local store that sells goldfish into bowls and where their stock is always covered in ulcers and whitespot. I explained how big goldfish get and how long they live snd how much damage is done by letting them live in too-small environments and all the woman said was "yeah, but what proof have you got? I'm sure the shop owner thinks it's fine and they're the one with experience". She then said "if you're that bothered, phone head office". I explained that head office had told me to phone her (the cruelty line) and she just said "oh well, is there anything else I can help you with?" I told her that these fish were not being given the 5 freedoms listed in the 2006 Animal Welfare Act (which is on the RSPCA website) and that I wanted the shop to be investigated and she just told me to contact my local council. I bet if I had said "there is a horse being kept tethered in a field with no food and water and is covered in sores and ticks" the RSPCA would have been all over it like a rash! But no - these are fish. Hundreds can die a week and it's fine because "fish don't live very long and tend to die for no reason".

Literally, she had no interest. She didn't know what RSPCA policy on fish welfare was and she wasn't sure if there even was one. In order to make headway you need to prove that what is happening is bad for the fish and if you try to do that, they just come back with something about fishkeeping being about opinion and shops being within local licensing laws, or something.

*sigh*

I nag them every so often but I always get the same pathetic responses.

I reported a different shop to the local council for how they treated their bettas. The bettas were in tiny cups, hardly moved and always had cold, manky water. It was really creepy to see them all lined up in this dark room - not moving, not reacting to anything. Some of them were in tanks with other fish and had been damaged beyond repair. It was such a nasty place. The council did an inspection and then phoned me to say they were not taking action. Why? Because the shop owner had assured them that actute lethargy and inactivity was normal for bettas, that bettas came from tiny puddles so the cups were ample space and that bettas fins were just really fragile but re-grew really fast and didn't hurt the bettas when they got damaged. The guy from the council just believed him because he was "the expert" and I was a silly little girl who fancied being a PETA activist.

Ah well. I keep fighting the good fight.

 

[Shred]

Interesting thing on telly this morning about the RSPCA wo went to visit a pub who had a thin fish tank in front of the toilet cistern that made it look like to water from the tank was being used to flush the toilet.

I just watched this.
RSPCA "How long have you have the fish in there"
OWNER "7 months"
RSPCA "Well they look perfectly happy and thats a long time for a goldfish to survive."

Sigh.

 

[fry_forever!]

This store sounds like mostly all of the stores near where I live in Canada. Fish all diseased, rude, clueless store employees. And to be honest, I actually volunteer at a pet store that *does* sell fish, and many of the fish are very sickly. I remember coming in once and there were 10 dead fish in one tank.

But since I came, the fish are doing at least a little better, because when I'm in charge of feeding, I give them a variety of foods, (dig through the different types that are in the bin full of food) and clean the water more in tanks that are not doing too well. At least I know the store does weekly 25% water changes. lol

I've been there for 6 months now, and I actually don't think the fish are half bad anymore. The employees were uneducated, but once I came in, I definitely educated them at least a little bit. Before that they were going on selling bettas to people who had little half gallon bowls. (But they may still be, I'm only in once a week, and the manager is intent on his idea of how bettas "should" be cared for )

Anyhow, sorry to rant. lol I like the store I work at, many pet/fish stores near where I live take terrible care of their fish. I have only found one store that truly takes wonderful care of their fish, and they definitely know what they're talking about. It's a family owned business.

Sorry to get off topic.

 

[PRW1988]

Unfortunatly we all seem to be forgetting that most places exist for the soul purpose of earning a profit. If the fish sells, why fix a thing is there thinking more than likly.

Sadly this happens far too often but you'd be surprised at how many locations differ in quality. I went to a PJ's pets (in Canada) at a mall and the tanks were horrid! I went to another location of PJ's pets 20 minutes from the mall and their tanks were amazing! It just goes to show that it all depends on what the store owner is willing to spend on quality employees who has knowledge and actually give a sh*t.(excuse the foul language)