Letter To Petco

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

Dear Sir or Madam:
I visited your Petco location in Mentor on April 13, 2007 and I was very unhappy with the conditions of some of your male bettas. I found a VeilTail in a tank of mollies with no hiding places for either the mollies or the betta. I had seen him in this same tank a week or two before and he was getting along fine with the mollies. When I arrived this time, his fins were torn up and he allowed himself to get stuck to the filter intake many times within the five minutes I watched him. I then walked over to your large bow-front tank that had gouramis and angel fish in there and I was shocked to find another male betta. Gouramis and bettas are in the same family of fish and they both occupy the same water space so there was bound to be some fighting. The gouramis were at least twice the size of the betta and would have easily torn him apart. I was told by one of your employees two different stories on why they weren't fighting. He first said "They have just arrived and they haven't established territories yet, that's why they aren't fighting." If this was true, were you going to let the betta stay in with the gouramis until territories were established and fighting did break out? When he went to go get the betta for me, he then said "Oh, this tank is big, that's why they aren't fighting." I also watched this male betta for a few moments and I lost track of him because he spent his time hiding from the larger gouramis.

In the same tank with the gouramis and the betta, there were plants strapped to the wood with rubber bands. One of your employees pointed that out when one of the rubber bands had rotted away and the fish were attempting to eat it. That would kill the fish that were eating it.

The same employee pointed out that you had another betta in with gouramis in a different tank but when we went to find him, he was no longer in there so she assumed he had been sold.

I was then looking at the bettas kept in the containers and was sickened to see that many of them only had half a container full of water and many others had algae growing in their tanks. All of the other tanks are kept in decent condition, is it that hard to simply do a water change when their containers need it? Or even just replace the water in the half-full containers?

Needless to say, the two bettas in the "community" tanks came home with me, along with another male in one of the algae-filled containers. I was not happy about paying for the one with the torn fins due to the fact it was your employees' fault he looked like that for not keeping a betta in his own tank - even if it was one of those small containers. I was a bit more willing to pay for the one with the gouramis, he was torn up a bit, but he looked like he did a good job hiding. I don't know how long he was in there, that was the first time I saw him in there but as I stated before, he was a good hider. The male in the container I brought home was in decent condition except for the fact his container was filled with algae...




okay guys, this is where you come in. i'm so bad at wrapping things up (essays, letters ect) so i need help with the end. i also want you guys to read over it and tell me what you think.
yes, these are the conditions in which maverick, goose and chris all came home with me from.

 

[FBTgirl]

glad your sending that rabbit

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

any ideas on how to wrap it up?

 

[Phaedra]

Good for you! I think it's wonderful that you're using your knowledge and taking a stand for animal rights.

If you ask me, you need to hit them where it hurts- the wallet.
In closing, I think you should make a statement that while you have been a customer in the past, if their fish keeping practices continue to exhibit such blatant disregard for their animal's well-being that you will not only take your business elsewhere, but that you will report them to the proper animal authorities.
You could probably even throw in a bit about the cost of medications etc. but that's of course, up to you.

And just a little thought after reading your letter (well done, by the way), you might want to add emphasis to the word "employees" instead of "your" in the sentence
"I was not happy about paying for the one with the torn fins due to the fact it was your employees' fault..."
The stress on your comes across a little childish, if you'll forgive the comparison.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

good ideas. i like them all
i'm so bad at wrapping up papers...that's where i get points off in school

 

[Phaedra]

Just remember that it's an opportunity to put whatever points home that you really want to come across.Whatever you want the reader to really consider, you should also put at the end so it's the last thing to leave their mind.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Nice job on taking action!!!

Yeah i'd emphasis something on like the full price for a not so great quality fish!

 

[Crayola105]

Careful with those big words, guys, they may not know what veiltails are. LOL

 

[Phaedra]

Careful with those big words, guys, they may not know what veiltails are. LOL

Hahaha, that's so true it's almost sad.

 

[Jaded12]

The letters ok, there are a few things wrong with it, don't know if it will get through to them, but it's ok

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

Careful with those big words, guys, they may not know what veiltails are. LOL

Hahaha, that's so true it's almost sad.

you guys'll get a kick out of this; the lady checking us out, she knew how to take care of bettas, because she pointed out the rubber bands in the one tank and then she said there was a betta in with other gouramis (who sold) but they were getting on okay...and then she asked if the other two (after looking at maverick) were "normal tails"
veiltails...normal tails? guess it depends who you ask.

should i include a guide (hint...the yellow betta is a veiltail, the purple one's a crowntail... )

Nice job on taking action!!!

Yeah i'd emphasis something on like the full price for a not so great quality fish!

aww but they are good quality...haha i dont think theres such thing as a "bad" quality betta. thats like saying a crossbred dog's bad quality. some may look nicer or have a nicer pedigree but they're all good quality...except for that stupid mutt my friend had. everyone called him "the dog from hell"...he was evil.

wow. it's late. i need to go to sleep

 

[Maxsmom]

Good for you TMX! What Phaedra suggested as a closing to your letter is perfect!

We don't have Petco's in Canada but I sometimes see their commercials on the American channels... they portray it as a fun place where their employees are truly animal-caring people... I would throw that in - that the real fact is that many of the employees know nothing about proper animal care.

I also agree - hitting them where it hurts - their bottom line ($$)... is what will get their attention.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i didn't even think of the commercials...good idea!

 

[catherine896]

Well done for writing a letter.
I agree you should hit them where it hurts. Tell them you will not be spending any more money in the shop and that you will tell other people not to shop there due to the quality in which the fish are kept. Also that if you do not see a change say within 2 weeks or so that you will report them.
You will have to let us know if you get a response!

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

okay guys, i edited it. tell me what needs fixed now


Dear Sir or Madam:
I visited your Petco location in Mentor on April 13, 2007 and I was very unhappy with the conditions of some of your male bettas. I found a VeilTail in a tank of mollies with no hiding places for either the mollies or the betta. I had seen him in this same tank a week or two before and he was getting along fine with the mollies. When I arrived this time, his fins were torn up and he allowed himself to get stuck to the filter intake many times within the five minutes I watched him and he was very snappy towards the mollies. I then walked over to your large bow-front tank that had gouramis and angel fish in there and I was shocked to find another male betta. Gouramis and bettas are in the same family of fish and they both occupy the same water space so there was bound to be some fighting. The gouramis were at least twice the size of the betta and would have easily torn him apart. I was told by one of your employees two different stories on why they weren't fighting. He first said "They have just arrived and they haven't established territories yet, that's why they aren't fighting." If this was true, were you going to let the betta stay in with the gouramis until territories were established and fighting did break out? When he went to go get the betta for me, he then said "Oh, this tank is big, that's why they aren't fighting." I also watched this male betta for a few moments and I lost track of him because he spent his time hiding from the larger gouramis.

In the same tank that held the gouramis, angel fish, male betta and assorted other fish, there were plants strapped to the wood with rubber bands. One of your employees pointed that out that one of the rubber bands had rotted away and the fish were attempting to eat it, more than likely ending in death for those fish, losing your store money on fish that could have been sold if they were kept in the proper conditions.

I was then looking at the bettas kept in the containers and was sickened to see that many of them only had half a container full of water and many others had algae growing in their tanks. All of the other tanks are kept in decent condition, is it that hard to simply do a water change when their containers need it? Or even just replace the water in the half-full containers?

Needless to say, the two bettas in the "community" tanks came home with me, along with another male in one of the algae-filled containers. I was not happy about paying full price for these poorer quality fish who would have been in decent shape had they been kept in proper conditions.

I have seen your commercials where Petco employees care about the store animals' well-being when in reality, many of them are just hired "off the streets" with no knowledge on proper animal care.

Though I have been a happy customer to your Mentor location in the past, I'm no longer willing to spend my money in places where animals are kept in inproper conditions. [If I do return and see bettas in these conditions again, or even the fish with rubber bands in the tank, I will be taking more action and report your store to the animal authorities.]*




*are there animal authorities for fish?

...that you will tell other people not to shop there due to the quality in which the fish are kept.

that's a good point...let me figure out where to throw that in...