Made my first "scene" at Wal-Mart

[Haiku]

I went to Wal-Mart with my husband as you just can't beat their price on bushes/trees and plants for the yard, and their greenhouse is fairly newly opened. While I was there, I went to the pet supplies section to pick up a fluorescent bulb for my minibow tank. Of course, I had to look at the bettas... It looked like they got a new shipment in, there were lots of them, little lidded tubs (which is better than the tiny cups), but many stacked on top of each other. There were two employees nearby chatting and working with the tanks, I didn't really take notice of what they were doing.

Well... I noticed immediately one blue/black betta boy (his container was under another betta's), and he was DEAD . It didn't look like he had been dead long, he still had some color and his water wasn't gross, but he was obviously dead. I looked around, lots of customers wandering nearby, and I said in as loud a voice as I could "There's a DEAD betta here!" One of the employes came rushing over and almost pushed me aside to reach over and grab him and get him out of there. I managed to get out, "How shameful" and then I had to get the heck out of there before my emotions kicked in and I became a blubbering idiot.

As simple as that sounds, it actually took some courage for me. I HATE calling attention to myself like that. I can assure you though, every customer in that area knew I found a dead fish. As we were walking the rest of the way through the store, I kept loudly mentioning dead fish and how poorly cared for they are.

I probably should have done more, but it's a start, and it was a leap for me considering how normally self-conscious I am about creating a scene. Poor little guy .

Rest in peace, little blue boy

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Good work

 

[BettaMomma]

Very nice job.
You kept your composure and I'm sure that in and of itself brought lots of people to respect you for letting them know what you had found, and that you are not a raving lunatic.

I'm sorry you found a dead one - i've only found one and it was really hard.

Nice job.

 

[ladyhawke]

I went to Wal-Mart with my husband as you just can't beat their price on bushes/trees and plants for the yard, and their greenhouse is fairly newly opened. While I was there, I went to the pet supplies section to pick up a fluorescent bulb for my minibow tank. Of course, I had to look at the bettas... It looked like they got a new shipment in, there were lots of them, little lidded tubs (which is better than the tiny cups), but many stacked on top of each other. There were two employees nearby chatting and working with the tanks, I didn't really take notice of what they were doing.

Well... I noticed immediately one blue/black betta boy (his container was under another betta's), and he was DEAD . It didn't look like he had been dead long, he still had some color and his water wasn't gross, but he was obviously dead. I looked around, lots of customers wandering nearby, and I said in as loud a voice as I could "There's a DEAD betta here!" One of the employes came rushing over and almost pushed me aside to reach over and grab him and get him out of there. I managed to get out, "How shameful" and then I had to get the heck out of there before my emotions kicked in and I became a blubbering idiot.

As simple as that sounds, it actually took some courage for me. I HATE calling attention to myself like that. I can assure you though, every customer in that area knew I found a dead fish. As we were walking the rest of the way through the store, I kept loudly mentioning dead fish and how poorly cared for they are.

I probably should have done more, but it's a start, and it was a leap for me considering how normally self-conscious I am about creating a scene. Poor little guy .

Rest in peace, little blue boy

GREAT job! Much better than I managed to do the first time I saw that! Thank god for BettaMomma who took over and spanked them over the phone for me. LOL!

 

[Haiku]

Thank you . I would have liked to have demanded to talk to a manager about their care and give a lecture about them stacking the cups on top of each other like that, but I just didn't have it in me at the time to do any more than what I did. I have a feeling I'll get better at it with time. Wal-Mart just feels more a hopeless cause as far as getting the management to make changes compared to an actual pet only store.

I just can't get the picture out of my head of that little pretty blue and black guy, laying on his side dead in that cup with another betta boy slapped on top of his container. His little face was kinda pressed against the side of his cup, looking out. Probably sounds silly but I just imagine him hopelessly staring out into the world as he died. I keep imaginging the employees just jostling and stacking them up there without even looking at them or caring about them, just another part of their lousy job they have to do. I'm sure he was sick and miserable when he arrived there, and the only person who ever gave him a second glance or cared for his plight was me .

 

[Panther]

Every day, it seems, I crusade against cruelty towards fish. And every day, I see how ignorant people are--or, regrettably, they know, but they just don't care. Once, while sitting in a restaurant, I heard a girl behind me joking about how her betta, which she had just moved from a betta vase, had managed to jump out. She was laughing--LAUGHING--about she had found it dead and dried up the next morning. I was so angry!!! Yet, there are so many people out there who still don't care. They can't even spare a second thought for the life of another living thing; and when that life so irresponsibly ends, they laugh. With every page of my new fish book that I write, with every new bit of information I find, I become more determined to some how, some way, make a difference. And I will. I know I will. We all can, if we try. We can, and we have to, one small step at a time.

Good going, Haiku!!!

 

[OohFeeshy]

At the moment my main 'hobby' (apart from fish!) is writing emails to people/companies who sell the tiny betta/goldfish tanks. I can't really make a scene in pets at home, they don't keep bettas in cups, and because they are in with, say, tetras, a dead one isn't much to talk about. Although if I saw a nipped one I'd probably say something. Or take him home...