Urgent: Please Read

[RipSlider]

<edit and note to all. Having discussed what I am saying with a few people, it seems that currently there is uncertainly legally if I am safe to "name and shame" the LFS in question. I am going to see a solicitor on Wednesday lunctime to see how hard and how loudly I can push this issue. Until then, I have changed the references to "<a major LFS in the north west of england>. If anyone hasn't read this thread already and wants to know which one before I have checked with my solicitor, then please feel free to e-mail me or PM me. Apologies for seeming wimpish, but I have to look after myself as well as the fish. It sucks.

Steve>


Today I went to < a Major LFS > in <the north west of england> and walked out half way around with my fiancee in tears and me feeling physically sick.

The level of neglect and illness that I witnessed is beyond belief. Below is an e-mail that I have sent to their local council, the RSPCA, OATA ( the aquatics trade body ) and DEFRA who are the govenment minsitry that would care the most about this.

What I've written really doesn't set the scene well enough. There was an entire tank, with maybe 50 fish, of which only two were alive! There was tanks where every single fish had whitespot and yet the fish were still for sale. Even fish with "Hole in the head" were being reccommended for sale by the staff. I counted 122 fish in less than 1/3 of the tanks, at which point I stopped counting.

There a tank with a Royal plec in it with broken glass in the bottom of the tank.

There was a fish which had been squashed into the wall by a thumb and left to rot....

I write this as a warning, mainly becuase they use a centralised filtration system and there are many diseased fish, but also in great sadness. Years ago, <The LFS in question> was one of the greatest places I had ever been to. They had immaculate tanks and wonderfully helpful, massively knowledgable staff.

Now the fish are sick and the staff care so little that they think it's funny that I was upset that a Cory had been left to rot so long that the other corys were eating the fungus off the body.

Please do not go to this shop in the state that it's in. If you MUST go, please quarentine all fish for a long period.

thanks

Steve

< the e-mail >

Sirs,

I have now been keeping fish for a number of years, and have visited many aquatics shops over this time. However, what I witnessed today has horrified me and left me feeling ill. I am so upset that I thought I had better write to you to explain what I saw in the hopes that you will take any actions possible to remedy the situation.

I visited < a major LFS>, based at

<a address in a major towen in the north west of england>

and what I saw was beyond belief.

Below is listed a number of the more serious issues:

Dead fish: All aquatics shops occasionally have a dead fish, but when I noticed how many there were, I started to count. I stopped at 122. The reason I stopped was that I witnessed a tank with approx 50 fish in it. All but two were either dead of soon to die. This was after getting around approx 1/3 of the shop.

There is also a major issue with the fact that dead fish have obviously been in the tank a long period. I witnessed a tank full of Corydora catfish where there were three dead bodies, and the other fish were feeding on them. The bodies were covered with fungus, and this fungus only starts to grow 48 hours after death at least. The fact that Live fish are eating dead fish means that disease outbreaks are exceptionally easy to start, and any of the alive fish would go on to contaminate other peoples aquariums. I see this as a clear case of animal cruelty.

Diseased fish: Again, all aquatics houses get occasional outbreaks of disease, but the amount that was visible shocked me. I counted 17 tanks where all or most of the fish had White spot, a very deadly and exceptionally transmittable disease, and three tanks where the fish were suffering from dropsy, again deadly.

The normal procedure when there is an illness is to quarantine the fish. However, none of these fish were, there were instead still up for sale. This means that diseased fish will be traveling to other peoples aquariums and will end up killing hundreds of other fish as well. This again MUST be classed as animal cruelty, not just for the fish in the store, but for all the other fish that will get infected and die as well.

I also saw three cases of "Hole in the head", which is where the forehead of the fish simply rots away. Again, very transmittable, but these fish again where up for sale.

The situation is made far worse by the fact that the store uses a centralized filtration system, meaning that the illnesses in one tank will very quickly spread to others.

Animal cruelty: Aside from the above, there are also cases where animal cruelty can be individually cited:
A Royal Plec, a very large fish, is currently residing in a tank where the bottom is littered with pieces of broken glass and glass shards. This fish will tear itself apart on these, as it has no scales to protect it.
Massive Over-circulation: Some of the tanks were so heavily circulated that the fish were simply being battered to dead. In one tank there was a 2 inch chop the water was being pulsed in that quickly. In these tanks, I saw gouramis, an exceptionally well known fish, which is from totally still waters, being smashed against the sides of the tanks. These fish simply can not deal with these water conditions. However, in other tanks where there was virtually no flow, fish that need very strong currents were kept.
The least that this will do is stress the fish, leading to illness. In many cases, such as the gourami tank, it had already caused fatalities.

Neglect: This I see is the major issue that causes and compounds the other issues: Staff neglect: The staff, including the manager of the fish section had no idea about the water chemistry that they were keeping the fish in. A staff member told me that they simply do not test for, or try to deal with, deadly compounds that form in aquariums, such as Nitrate. When I discussed this with the manager, he confirmed that they do not test for it, and stated it was nothing to do with me if the fish were kept in, and I quote "crap water".

Animal neglect: Many of the fish looked exceptionally thin and lethargic, when they should have been chubby and moving about with vigor. This would seem to suggest under-feeding. There is also the sickening sight, at the end of one of the middle isles on the left hand side or a dead fish which has been squashed into the wall ( you can see the thumb mark ) and then left to dry out and rot.




Please could you respond to this e-mail at the earliest possible time, with what actions you are planning to take regarding this and a list of remedial actions that you plan to ask the fish store to carry out to rectify this disgusting situation.

I will be writing, and e-mailing, the contents of this e-mail to the other following agencies:

Yourselves
The RSPCA
The Department for Environment, Food Rural Affairs ( DEFRA )
OATA ( The aquatics trade body )


Please take action as soon as possible.

 

[dgwebster]

I cannot believe what I read here, but are pleased that you are willing to go in and then do osmething about this by complaining to those that you can.

The shop should have a license from the local council for the sale of the fish, I would urge that you keep pressure on them as they can revoke this license and it is their responsibilty to do this.

If possible, get some photos on a mobile or something as well to provide as evidence.

 

[Saedcantas]

It will actually be the local councils EHO (Environmental Health Officer) who deals with problems such as this and for the best response you would be advised to try and contact them directly as a priority before other agencies

 

[zelandonia]

That's a great letter. I admire your proactive approach and I'm sorry you had to see all those horrific sights.

z.

 

[Wonderboy]

What bothers me the most is the staff! I'm sorry you saw such sights! Thank you for trying to do something about it. And I thought Walmart was bad......

~ Wonderboy!

 

[CFC]

Well i'm glad i read this first, i was planning on buying some expensive fish via mail order from BAS but certainly wont be ordering them now.

Great letter, lets hope someone takes notice and acts on it.

 

[Luke_e]

A shocking read, but that letter summed it up very well.

 

[5andra]

You are so right to complain to anyone and everyone about a store that opporates in this manner, I have seen some sorry sights in pet shops but nothing as bad as this in a specialist store!!!!!!!!!!!

I really really hope that something gets done and quickly!!!! with any luck some of the fish may be saved !!!

but stories such as this just make me want to cry with you i would say to any permits that they require in order to trade fish!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

That has to be the foulest thing I have heard about in regards to fish cruelty. I hope they have their licenses revoked and the shop has to shut down as a result. The disease sounds terrible and to add broken glass and the obvious non caring manner of the staff makes me want to go there and do some damage to them personally. I really hope the appropriate measures are taken when your letters are read by the individual contacts.
Hugs,
P.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I was also thinking about mail ordering some uncommon fish from them, but I think I'll stick with the boring fish I can get If you can go back, photo evidence would be very helpful especially if the shop is given warning before a visit from authority (ie, take photos before they 'clean up their act').

 

[James007]

Suddenly Pets at Home seems efficient.

Can't believe the level of neglect these poor fish are in. Hopefully people will not be buying fish from them.

 

[iain.betson]

It's about time someone stood up and said something against people like this. Well done for the letter, let us know if you get replies and of course what they are. However if they are not effective then maybe we should all send e-mail or two about this place, the more complaints they get the more they will be forced to listen.
I hope this post you started will inspire the rest of us to do something the next time we walk into a hell hole like the one you have just described.
Best of luck

 

[KathyM]

That's disgusting!

I wouldn't expect much in the way of action from the council though - remember they pick up licence fees and it's in their best interests to keep shops like these open (speaking from personal experience of having had to report a FOUL petshop with diseased puppies and starved small animals - passed that morning for licence by the council).

The RSPCA helped us more than the council TBH, and were on their back after that so much that the petshop shut down of it's own accord.

 

[Saedcantas]

Ok heres something.

While I am certainly not suggesting you have elaborated in any way, when it boils down to it, we as readers have only your word on it and we as readers do not actually know who you are at all. While I fully commend your efforts in writing the email and sending it to the appropriate people and to be honest see no reason at all why I would disbelieve you or defend the business in question.

My problem is this. At this point in time, everything you have written is an unsubstantiated claim and in my opinion complaints like this via the internet should for legal reasons be kept nameless, by all means if people pm you wanted to know the shop in question then you should tell them. But you could get yourself and the owners of this forum into rather a lot of trouble if the shop in question this time (or usually pets@home) were to find out someone was writing such damaging claims about them.

I personally feel that yes you may want to warn people but as we have just seen, at least two people have just stated that they will be taking their business elsewhere purely based on what you have said, I imagine BAS would be extremely upset about that and would no doubt be interested in taking action against you, which they legally would be well within their rights to.

Now please, if everyone could read this post properly. Do not mistake me for defending this shop or indeed agreeing with the contents of the topic in anyway.
My issue is with the type of topic we have here and not anything to do with the people in question either way.

 

[dgwebster]

you do have a valid point there, though at the same time, public forums, whether it be standing shouting in trafalgar square on a box on box friday, or whether it be on the internet are often the only way for the single person to have their voice heard.

<keep in mind this a scotland law and may not be completely correct in england or wales and elsewhere>

A company cannot prosecute a person for personal opinion nor for the effect that has on others, it can only prosecute those employed to write or employees - i.e. as a public board nobody here has any liability for actions or words said.

Were this a reporting sight, eg the BBC News website, there would be scope for this.