WHAT A DAY I HAD

[theresamarie3366]

Today I went into my local PETCO to get some crickets for my son's lizard and I wandered over to the display of the Bettas they had there. I must say that they are kept quite clean in clear water and in plastic containers, the only way to describe them, is the containers you get at the deli that hold a pound of whatever salad you get. But right in front there was a gorgeous guy who was quite dead. He definately had flex. All the signs were there. I was quite upset because it was obvious that there was something wrong with him before he died and noone helped him. He was right in front and could not be overlooked. I started looking at the rest of the lot and they were in pretty good condition until I got to the last row all the way in the back of the shelf. There were 9 containers across and out of that nine 5 were dead and obviously had been there for quite along time. the smell actually made me gag when I took them off the shelf. the other four were totally starving and looked pitiful with pop eye, like I have never seen before even in pictures. I was so angry, and I hate when I get really angry, because i start crying when I get that mad. So anyway here I am crying, I walk over and grab betta food off the shelf and some betta fix and fed the poor ones and added the med. Someone must have saw and reported me because next thing I know security is walking over with the manager and demanded I pay for the products I opened. I refused to pay and showed them the condition of the poor little guys. They took me in the office and called the local police. Which I was in luck because my friend is on the force. So anyway, A officer I knew responded and he listend to both sides of our story and they demanded that I be prosecuted. I took the officer over to the fish and when he saw the condition of the fish and the poor dead ones, he told the manager he should be ashamed of himself and that they are living , breathing animals. He took the money for the food and meds out of his own pocket and threw it at the manager. Needless to say I am not eelcome in the store anymore, I had to sign a paper saying I would not enter their property again. But thats okay, before we left we fed the rest of the fish and added betta max to their water. It was afterall out food and meds and we could do whatever we wanted. I know its not a big deal, but hopefully I made those poor guys a little happier.
I am trying to figure out a way to go back and get the ones in the very back tomorrow. I put them in a certian place and I am going to try and get someone to go get them for me.

 

[OrkyBetta]

Wow. Well, some of the most famous people in history stood strong for their beliefs...(Rosa Parks, Susan B Antony, etc) So kudos to you. It is nice that some people care for bettas in these huge LFS's. Also, now that this store has had this experiance, perhaps they will think before they mistreat their bettas.

 

[newfishies]

theresa that is sooo awful!!! i can't believe that they called the cops! it's one thing for them to reprimand you for opening their supplies, but i can't beleive that they want to bring attention to the fact that they didn't even give 2 $%^&$&^'s about the pets they are selling!!! i am sure that the whole police station has heard about this and in my experience, the rests of your town will know soon, too!!! do you have a local paper with a police report? that would be great if it were written up there!!

"officer so and so responded to a complaint of a woman trying to save fish from dying in petco hell. employees were too busy gabbing to be bothered to remove those who had already perished or attend to those in need. the aforementioned woman was given a medal of honor, while the pet store employees will be put in the stockades of town square for all to gawk at!"

sorry, it just really irks me that they can't be bothered to take care of the fish or deal with the consequences of a true fishkeeper taking care of their fish when the store doesn't!!!

good for you for trying to help the unlucky guys there!!

 

[Styx]

WHOA! That's one bad day! *Pats gently* At least you helped the little fishies and weren't thrown in jail for your good deed.

 

[wuvmybetta]

sorry, it just really irks me that they can't be bothered to take care of the fish or deal with the consequences of a true fishkeeper taking care of their fish when the store doesn't!!!

Yes,but they have all the time in the world to fret over 5.00 worth of actual "merchandise" If only the fish were as valuable as a bottle of melafix...

 

[littlefishie]

I get the feeling that BettaMomma and you will get along very well..
And that she wil demand the address and phone number of that store as well.

 

[Synirr]

Good for you!!! I sometimes medicate the bettas at my local Walmart with meds right off the shelf, but no one has ever noticed -- either that, or they don't care enough to do anything about it

I figure that's what they get for not keeping medication on hand specifically for use on the fish in the store... I checked the cabinets where they keep all the other supplies, so I know it's not there
I'm only using a couple of drops out of a big ol' bottle of Melafix, so it's not like anyone is suffering. I'm probably the only one who ever actually buys fish meds at Walmart anyway, haha.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

oh, i thought you socked the guy so they called the cops

 

[50000_tears]

hmm my petco takes care of dead fish imediatly...every once in a while i see a dead betta..imediate disposal

 

[OrkyBetta]

My local petco is relaively small, and is in a smaller town, so maybe this explans why I've never had a problem with mine? The workers at my petco all know about cycling, and betta care.

 

[red_fish_blue_fish]

The PetCo I work at is wonderful...but I have seen bad ones. Oh, and by the way. U R AWESOME!!!!!!!! Way to stand up for how you feel!!!!!!! Animals should have rights too. U FREAKEN ROCK HARD CORE!!!! Sorry your day stunk Betta poo.

 

[ccg]

I don't blame them for calling the police really. I realize you are trying to help these guys and it is really good to see that. However, you can not just walk into a store and start opening and using products that you have not paid for. I realize you are saving these poor guys, but still, its no different then me walking into a grocery store, taking some food off the shelf, and feeding the homeless guys outside the store. You just can’t do that. You are very luck you new this officer as it could have been a lot worse.

Hopefully the remaining betta’s will make their way to a new home and have a chance at life.

 

[sharky&george]

Good on you for helping them if you dont who will?

 

[littlefishie]

However, you can not just walk into a store and start opening and using products that you have not paid for. I realize you are saving these poor guys, but still, its no different then me walking into a grocery store, taking some food off the shelf, and feeding the homeless guys outside the store. You just can’t do that.

Aaaaactually, it's very different from feeding a homeless person outside of a grocery store.
That homeless person is not the responsibility of the store, and the store is not in charge of their life and well-being.

A betta in a pet store IS the responsibility of the store. The store would have to use their stock medication to medicate the sick betta anyway. The fact that they are ignoring their responsibility to care for this betta is ridiculously upsetting. theresamarie3366 was doing what she felt was right, which was medicating the fish when the store shirked their responsibility to do so.

The difference here is this:
Homeless person -- The grocery store does not own this homeless person, nor do they try to sell this homeless person to customers. The store is not charged with the care of said homeless person, nor is the store responsible for the health and well-being of this homeless person. They are simply sitting outside the store hoping for some spare change.

Sick/dying betta in a petstore -- The petstore owns the betta, is trying to sell it to customers, and has been charged with caring for the betta until it has been purchased and leaves the store with a new owner. The store must maintain the health and well-being of this betta until it is sold, because otherwise it's going to be difficult to make a sale and they lose money. This betta is being ignored by those responsible for caring for it. theresamarie3366 was simply doing what the employees neglected to do: medicate a betta in need.

 

[theresamarie3366]

CCQ,
I totally understand where you are coming from. But if you could have seen the poor fish and the smell from the dead ones, maybe you would have done something too. But its my nature to sometimes do before I think andi was lucky that I know thats bad. I think I just went into auto pilot and didn't think. You are right, I was lucky that I knew the officer, and that he is an animal lover too. I received a call this morning from the store and they want to talk to me. I am meeting them at 2:00. I WILL control my composure and hopefully if they let me explain my side of the story, we can come to a reasonable solution to what happened.