The Poor Fish At Wal-mart

[Haiku]

...but really, don't go around saying your an animal activist and then tell of a cow that you sold for slaughter *cough*. (not directing this at anybody in PARTICULAR) Mawhahahaha.....

Forgive me, but I actually think that is rather inappropriate remark. It was explained in that thread that the person did not own the cow to begin with, they just cared for it. They had no choice in the matter of what happened to the cow, they did not own it.

 

[MegTheFish]

Forgive me, but I actually think that is rather inappropriate remark. It was explained in that thread that the person did not own the cow to begin with, they just cared for it. They had no choice in the matter of what happened to the cow, they did not own it.

Actually, that post was deleted before I could read it. So I didn't know that. But thanks for informing me. I did email that person and asked him/her to explain it to me, but she/he didn't want to talk to me, so whatever *shrug*.
I'll delete it if it makes you happy

I just went to petfish.net and it drove me CRAZY.
The layout of how that forum is seems like it's 2nd grade compared to this site.
I couldn't even stay to post more than once.

UUUGH

What a nice forum we have here.

Yes! I'm not the only one!

 

[50000_tears]

i dont shop at walmart anymore period ..(alert of a mini hippy rant)... well not only do they abuse bettas but they make little children in poverty stricken countrys make clothing toys and other things BY HAND!! that store sickens me

 

[Synirr]

i dont shop at walmart anymore period ..(alert of a mini hippy rant)... well not only do they abuse bettas but they make little children in poverty stricken countrys make clothing toys and other things BY HAND!! that store sickens me

Child labor sounds horrible to those of us fortunate enough not to have to worry about whether or not we get to eat every day, but in some places it's a blessing for a child to be able to have a job so that they can help their family to afford the things they need, no matter how little that job pays. In some places, kids are happy to work, because working means they can eat.

As far as saving bettas from Walmart and other such places goes, the pessimist in me says that there will never, not in a million years, be enough caring/informed consumers boycotting buying fish from such places to make a difference. For every betta you don't save, some know-nothing buys 3. I know for a fact that my local Walmart would sell or kill every betta on their shelves within a week whether or not I buy them.

 

[whip]

do you know what happens to fish that sit on the shelf and get sicker and sicker? They die. And then they're replaced anyway. So I don't think I'm contributing to any problem

I respect your opinion and encourage you to do what you feel is right, but I disagree. The regional manager is sitting in Chicago and he sees that bettas are selling well, so he oreders more. Maybe on a normal week they order 20 fish. If 5 are rescued the RM orders 25 because sales appear to be rising and they don't want to run out of stock. This is the part I know you don't want to hear. If the fish die they lose money. It's not even a drop in the bucket to Wal-Mart, but If they lose money because of "loss" and sales are down they will order less fish.
To me the biggest problem is this. A local fish store owner in your area is trying to do the best that he can. He spends 6-7 days a week possibly 12 hours or more per day in the store. Every day they clean tanks, look for disease, feed the fish, make sure the fish are happy and healthy, etc,etc. It's hard work for not a lot of money. Most do it for the love of the hobby. I feel you and the fish would be better served by spending your money at these stores, instead of the mega monsters that don't care about you , the fish, their employees, or the community.
Ask any small business owner how they compete with these mega stores and they will tell you the only way is with better quality and service. The small business can not compete on price and stay in business very long.
Maybe you and the local pet store owner could get together and start a petition to have all Wal-marts stop selling fish. If your local media is like mine, they are always looking for a good story. Call them. It's sad, but stories on animals in poor shape make good ratings. The worst thing that could happen, is that you get the attention of corparate HQ and they revamp their fish keeping standards. I'm personally not a fan of PETA. They would be a good alley of your cause. See if you can get them involved. They are great at making mountains out of mole hills.
I respect you and your cause. I just think your going about it in the wrong way. Good luck with your endeavour.

 

[whip]

i dont shop at walmart anymore period ..(alert of a mini hippy rant)... well not only do they abuse bettas but they make little children in poverty stricken countrys make clothing toys and other things BY HAND!! that store sickens me

I hate to defend Wal-Mart, but that is the responsibility of the manufacturer of the product. They bend over backwards to keep Wal-Mart happy and send the jobs over seas to keep prices low. If they wouldn't let Wal-Mart dictate the price, this wouldn't happen.

 

[OrkyBetta]

In my opinion on this topic, saving one life is so worth giving 4 bucks to an abusive store. And the one betta making room for more isnt necessarily the truth, i'm sure they get in regular shipments, and if they get overstocked, they just store them elsewhere. This is how most stores work. People can make a difference in animal care by not buying anything but the sickies there. (Bettamomma, I think I love you.) They WILL lose a lot of buisiness, but the kicker is when u complain loudly, and tell them you are going to tell all of your friends to never shop there again. The management usually freaks out and tries to please you when u say that, and you can make a huge difference. Ok, so it's manipulative. But it has always worked for me.

 

[BettaMomma]

I've spoken directly with a regional manager.
On numerous occasions. I think they even know me by now when I call there.
I have spoken with managers at both WalMarts here in town on numerous occasions also.
The 2 WMs around here always run out of bettas by the time the next truck comes in. There have been several times I've gone into the stores to find empty shelves. So... that means that even though I'm buying the occasional one here or there, they'll most likely run out - so the one that I bought would have been bought by someone else anyway. I have spoken directly with the woman who orders them in our west side store. She said that she orders the same amount every week, whether they have 2 left or 30 left. I asked her what they do with sick bettas. She said they give them methylene blue and put them back on the shelf. If they die, they discard them by wrapping them in some kind of plastic stuff and packing them so they're not biohazardous if they're really ill, and have to go thru some process to get rid of them besides just ditching them in the garbage.

I completely respect everyone's opinion on the matter - and I completely agree with those folks who think it's just contributing to their bottom line to buy a sick fish and walk out the door disgusted, but never to tell anyone how you feel. I believe that's not helping either. Be LIEVE me, they know how I feel. I ampretty sure that the guy in the Westside WM runs and hides when he sees me coming because he knows I'll give him a laundry list of things to do when I go in.

Even if I never make any difference to the bazillions of bettas out there in the world because this whole thing is just a problem that is too big for any mass of people to get under control, at least I've made a big difference in the lives of 14 happy healthy bettas in my care right now, and one little guy who has already made his way to see the big guy upstairs. I think of where they all came from, and what they had to endure to get to me, and I respect every single one of them to the ends of the earth.

 

[BettaMomma]

I'm personally not a fan of PETA. They would be a good alley of your cause. See if you can get them involved. They are great at making mountains out of mole hills.
I respect you and your cause. I just think your going about it in the wrong way. Good luck with your endeavour.

FYI - I despise PETA.
The only reason I ever even use their name is to threaten to sick them on someone who is mistreating animals when they're being unreasonable with me.

Making mountains out of molehills? Hmm... never been accused of that before... I think I'm shedding light on a problem that's been around for quite a while now- I'm not trying to turn it into anything bigger than it really is. It's a monumental problem with no possible solution in sight. So I'm saving a few bettas in the process and letting some folks at WalMart and other stores know that it ticks me off. At least I'm doing something about it.

And how might you suggest to go about solving the problem of mistreated fish if I'm going about it the wrong way? Although the victories in a fight like this are teeny weeny and probably make no difference in the grand scheme of things, they satisfy me when they happen.

I'd love to hear suggestions because most people know I'm willing to try anything once. If it works, I'll try it again. and again. and again.

 

[50000_tears]

well they have a bad history w/ animals too... my mom rembers going to walmart and they had birds(budgies)(here comes the animal rescuer dun dun duh) well my mom was there watching these birds and then...THE SHELF COLAPSES AND ALL THE BIRDS GO CRASHING DOWN!(ok sorry for caps)..so she saw this little tiny whitsh blue budgie she picks up the poor little thing and a feather stickin out and she couldent walk good at all so, my mom being the animal nut she buys the little budgie. She takes the budgie to the vet and they think she is going to die soon/she had no chance SO my mom sits by her all night w/ vitamins and anti biotics . well this bird lived for 5-6 years (she died of egg bound).the bird was named pumpkin she was around in the 70's or 80's(i want born until 1990 so i didnt meet her i met her two other birds sammy and gus(she loves that name havent you noticed?)i am not sure if they were walmart rescues). well i am being fully suported by my mom in the stoping of the abuse of these fish .sorry if my bird story was offtopic its true though.

 

[Haiku]

I am just respectfully listening and considering both sides of this issue, but I did want to say I think the "Mountain out of a molehill" remark was meant towards PETA, not towards you BettaMomma . At least that is how I read it. I.e. they will take a case of neglect towards the fish and make it look like all Wal-Mart employees sadistically tortures animals for entertainment while at work. Just an example . You know how Peta is

 

[BettaMomma]

Yep - that's why I can't stand them.
They're way way too completey radical.

 

[nanguz]

I'm just going to add my two cents because I just rescued two bettas from Walmart. Some say that it causes Walmart to buy more bettas and the problem continues but to see these 2 bettas on the shelf waiting to die was too much for me. there was one already dead. I just couldn't see these two suffer because no matter what, there are probably enough people around who will go to walmart and buy bettas, enough to keep walmart stocking bettas whether I bought the 2 or not. I don't think they changed any walmart policy. I'm just giving these 2 a chance to live. I don't even really agree with me on this. I usually don't go to walmart for this reason. I did yell at the guy and told him to take care of the fish but he was a real jerk about it and said it wasn't his problem this is when I knew I had to rescue them.
Just my opinion on the subject.

Nan

 

[Bettabelieveit]

Hello, I'm new here, and I'm just going to chime in a little on the board bashing, as I am a regular poster on the betta section of petfish -- In defense I've never seen anyone berated for buying walmart fish, at all. and secondly, as betta lovers, we shouldn't fight about where is best to talk about these beautifull fish but rather join forces ofcourse we have preferences to where we post but why let that get in the way, we're all posting for the same reasons, our addiction -- or rather our infatuation with Bettas

So, now that I've ranted just a little I'll introduce myself, hi! my name's Jason and these are my bettas http/jasonsdesigns.netfirms.com/html/first.html I even have little videos of 'em Nice to meet all of you *extends hand in friendship*

 

[eudielynn]

So, now that I've ranted just a little I'll introduce myself, hi! my name's Jason and these are my bettas http/jasonsdesigns.netfirms.com/html/first.html I even have little videos of 'em Nice to meet all of you *extends hand in friendship*

Welcome Jason. Great to have another betta lover on board.

You are right. It doesn't really matter where we post as long as we are all trying to promote responsible betta ownership. We just get so frustrated at times when we see the deplorable conditions that some stores keep their fish in that we have to spout off. There are a lot of good people on this forum who truly love bettas and I know we can sound militant at times over our bettas, but it's just cause we love 'em so much.