Need To Rant About Wal*mart... Omg!

[Jaded12]

Firstly I'd like to state that I'm not downing the Wal*mart corporation as a whole, because there are Wal*marts out there that take very good care of their fish. I worked in one.

Now as I had mentioned in a couple threads I have one VERY BAD wal*mart by me, the tanks looks as though they've never been cleaned, the fish look like they haven't been fed in ages, and the bettas... omg there are at least 40 bettas at any given time in cups that NEVER get cleaned, the water barely covers them, they have algae growing in their cups, they're all fairly skinny, the majority of them are sick in someway, colmunaris, ich, emaciation, septecemia etc. And twice I've been in there and there were 2-3 bettas in a bowl together and employees would walk by and not do a darn thing! At any given time at least 25% - 50% of the bettas are dead or very very close to it.

So onto my story:

I went in there today to tape up this nice little betta care sheet I typed up, and put a stack of sheets by the bettas, I also printed out a letter that I copied from another forum (will post it further down) and taped that up as well. Well the one employee they had working proceeded to rip them down, and tell me they were a load of BS, well I kept my cool, cause I knew fighting with him wouldn't do a darn thing for the fish. So I walk away and circle around to see this woman and her daughter by the bettas, with one of MY care sheets in her hand. The employee proceeds to take the care sheet from her, and tell her its all false information. That bettas NEED small living spaces because they "Live in mud puddles in china" and they HAVE to have roots to eat because thats "What they live off of, and will die without them" I was fuming when I left the store. Came right home and proceeded to call the store manager I told her the conditions the fish in her store are in is appalling, that her employee was very rude to me and was giving out false information, and do you know what she says to me? she says "I'll look into it, thank you, goodbye" Well that told me right there that she's not going to do a darn thing.

So I plan on sending the following letter to the head of the wal*mart corporation, calling them, and visiting that store, handing out care sheets and B*itching out the staff until something starts getting done.

Heres a letter I got from another forum it was written by Ren (Randomwiktor) and I am taking no credit for it! This is what I plan on sending to the corporation, and to the store itself as many times as I need to. Please if there are people interested in helping me I'll give you the address for the individual wal*mart, and also use this letter to send to wal*marts near you that may take appalling care of their fish.

Dear Sir/Madam,
If you are receiving this letter, it is because one (or more) betta(s) (siamese fighting fish) was(were) recently purchased from your store as a rescue. He or she was suffering from one (or several) of the following ailments: fin rot, columnaris, ich, parasitic infection, emaciation, fin biting behavior, swim bladder disease, deformity, or disability. What's more, a test of the water parameters in the container the fish was sold in were found to have stressful or toxic levels of ammonia, nitrate and/or nitrite. While some health problems in fish are inevitable, the combination of the betta's symptoms and the conditions in which he/she was being kept suggest that husbandry while in the store was the primary culprit in the fish's illness. After all, it is well known among fish keepers that poor water quality is the leading cause of illness in fish and other aquatic animals.
Husbandry issues resulting in poor fish health are ethically unacceptable and financially irresponsible. As a business, you can surely see the value of keeping the animals you sell healthy. Stores with lower incidences of diseases will see a smaller die-off, a greater number of fish sold, a fewer number of fish returned (refunded), and a greater number of returning customers. Furthermore, fish who leave the store healthy are more likely to live long, productive life - which means more revenue in the form of aquarium products and future live animal purchases from the pleased customer.
Therefore, it would be in the best interest of your store to reconsider current husbandry practices, particularly the schedule on which your bettas are cleaned. Remember, although bettas are hardy, they are equally as affected by poor living conditions as other fish. Furthermore, though their air-breathing apparatus permits them to be kept in small containers prior to sale, they still produce sufficient waste to dramatically and rapidly lower the water quality if not cleaned frequently.
As a provider of fish to the community, your store has the obligation of setting the standard for fish care before the animals even reach their future homes. When fish are neglected in stores, customers will either react by refusing to shop at such businesses, or will mimic the same neglectful behavior, leading to a short, miserable life for the animal involved. Neither situation is preferable for the business, consumer, or fish itself. Thus, I urge you to please reevaluate your store's policy regarding betta husbandry to promote animal welfare, encourage purchase, decrease losses, attract customers, and further profit.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
______

 

[Kyrielle]

I think...Walmart should have stopped growing in "types of stuff" when they were providing supplies that were Eckard (Wallgreens) and Office Max combined. It really should have ended there. I think that their idea of selling anything living and selling produce, deli, dairy, meats...is just weird. They aren't equipped to take care of animals nor ensure that food is clean and safe to eat. They aren't a fish/small animal store and they aren't a grocery store. They never will be either of these things to any degree.

Edit: By the way, I know I seem to shoot down your ideas and expose their logistical and logical flaws sometimes. But I am proud of you for actively doing something. =) This is a good way to start.

Edit 2: Oh yes, and next time when you go to pass out flyers, either give them to the manager or hand them out in front of the store. I don't know if their policy will let you leave them around without permission. The employees may have had no choice but to tear them up, though I do agree the man was rude.

 

[DevUK]

Best of luck!

I was in a local pet retailers the other day and was shocked at the amount of dead fish floating about. The tanks are usually clean looking but the fish health seems to be a problem. I've since decided that I will only buy sundry items from them, and even then only if I'm desperate.

Good luck in your campaign!

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i like how you say i was talking trash when i ranted about my wal-mart .

at least something'll get done...hopefully. my friend's mom works at wal-mart so im planning on talking to her. she's somewhere high up on the wal mart chain.

 

[FBTgirl]

Thats how I got my female betta. But it was petco and they had dirty bottoms of cups and there female bettas were really skinny. Lots of the girls had stress stripes and freaked out!

 

[Jaded12]

i like how you say i was talking trash when i ranted about my wal-mart .

at least something'll get done...hopefully. my friend's mom works at wal-mart so im planning on talking to her. she's somewhere high up on the wal mart chain.

And you know what, I need to apologize for that I take back everything I said, lol. While I still don't agree with critisizing chain stores as a whole, for what individual stores do... something really needs to be done about some of these stores. I'm beginning to think wal*mart should either try and screen their employees better, or stop selling fish.

 

[modaz]

hi jaded12,
i dont know what authorities you have in NY but read this thread i posted and see how i got the problem solved
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=185067

 

[Amunet]

OMG I'm fuming after reading your post!
That employee has the nerve to call your information false and cop an attitude with you??
Did you try stopping that woman and her girl to tell her the right info they needed to know?

I'm really thankful that the 2 walmarts closest to me have stopped selling fish.
I remember the last time I went into the one that's a bit further away.... they had 3 bettas in cups on a shelf you could barely see and all 3 were dead, rotting away. I swear it looked like they had been dead for a good week or so.
It just made my stomach turn.

I would keep sending those letters out... in your words and whoever elses to get something done b/c that is just ridiculous.

 

[cd_customs]

that is just stupid the stuff in that post. They only can live in small areas wtf!!! and they keep there fighters in cups!. Something must be done to stop this. good luck in your quest.

 

[Jaded12]

So I think I actually made an impression I go into that walmart today and I see the bettas in cups FULL of CLEAN water. And even better, above the bettas was an information sheet about the PROPER way to take care of bettas. The sheet was great it said that the preferred minimum tank size for a betta was 1 gallon, that they needed weekly 100% water changes if their tanks weren't filtered. Had proper needed temps and said the betta in a vase eating the roots was a common misconception, that they COULD NOT live off of plant roots!! I'm so happy. There was no sign of the rude employee... wonder what happened to him, lol

 

[invader]

 

[Betta91]

Wow I'm so happy for you!! Great Job! You must have saved many lives of Bettas and probably other fish for a long time to come!

 

[mommyof2bettas]

YAY
I'm so happy for you and I'm soooo happy that you actually saved many of those poor bettas' lives
The Wal-Mart near me sells bettas but I'm happy to say they keep them in great conditions and when they are sick they cure them. But I wish I could say different for the other fish. I don't know why but the bettas are the only ones that are treated well. Once again I congratulate you for making a difference in that yucky ( ) store.

 

[Amunet]

Woot!
That's awesome to hear!
You should go back in like 2 days though to make sure everything is still being cleaned and such and if not, well then complain some more! lol

 

[Jaded12]

No worries, I completely plan on it, lol.