treatment of fish at wal-mart

[Glasstapper]

I went to wal-mart the other day for some personal items, then decided since I was there, I should look for a small fish net. What I saw in their tanks really broke my heart. I was horrified.

I saw Angels that had hardly any fins left on them. I'm not sure if it was their tankmates nipping at them, or a bad case of fin rot, but it was very sad to see these beautiful fish looking so beat up.

There was also a tank of eels (I don't know their name, but they were brown and very long like a snake) that had two dead ones in there. It looked like they had been dead for quite some time.

The rest of the tanks were all overcrowded, almost all of them had dead fish in it, and they all just looked so sick and sad.

I can't believe they are allowed to keep fish. I asked the lady working in that department how often did they remove their dead fish, and she said they do it on Tuesdays and Fridays. 8O Only twice a week?! Why not as soon as you see a dead one? I also asked her what they did with sick fish, and she said they just leave them in the tank. Medicate them? She said no.

It was horrible.

[Glasstapper]

I just found this article. I am glad that something is being done about this. I am going to send a letter to them as well about the wal-mart here.

http://www.petlibrary.com/goldfish/walmart.htm

[William]

Allways a said sight to see.

[nix]

good on you glasstapper!

[stubbytheplecostomus]

they have a 90 day return garentee for their fish... obviously they don't make any money from them, they only make money selling dry goods, so why even bother with keeping the fish alive.

[NorthernBoy]

I read the link and I have to say one thing in the defence of the Walmart employees. We all know how awful walmart treats and pays it's employees...can we expect them to do better with fish??? I don't think so. I personally have been avoiding Walmart and Sam's Clubs for about 6 years. We should all take time to write a letter to Mr. Glass and not only tell him have awful the treatment is of thier fish but also that no matter what the correction is we will NOT be shopping at Walmart anymore. Support your local small business's people. The local grocer instead of the Target, the local hardware store instead of Home Depot, the local fish store rather than Petco, Petsmart, and especially Walmart!!! Just my two cents.

[Tornado]

Every person Ive ever met in a fish department in walmart was also completly clueless about fish. Just trying to make their $6/hour paycheck, and dont really care for the fish

[Lady Hobbs]

That picture of all your dyed fish is almost as sad as the condition of those at Walmart. lol

Complain to Walmarts at the site I've posted and address it to cooperate.......not the store. The stupid stores are what is letting this happen.
http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=224

[Glasstapper]

picture of dyed fish? do you mean my avatar? I thought those were blood parrot cichlids. I don't support dyed fish, if that's what you're implying.

[Lady Hobbs]

I was just kidding but your picture is that of JellyBean parrots which have been dyed. I love the parrot chichlids and want one sooooo bad! I also want a Severum. Someday.

[William]

Hmm but the parrot itself is often a questinable fish since it is a hybrid which often is of very poor quality. Defects are common.

[Glasstapper]

I just went read up on the blood parrot cichlids. So, they can't close their mouths?

I'm sure it's their cute faces and brilliant colors that make them popular, but wouldn't people want more natural breeds? What's the point of investing all that time and money into an aquarium if you're not even going to stock a natural fish?

I originally chose my avatar because I thought they were real fish. I think I'm going to make myself a new one since these are dyed fish. Such a pity.

[TooManyFish]

I took my 10 year old newphew to walmart to buy the hardware for his first tank. He wanted to buy the fish there too, but I insisted we get the fish at a pet store I've been dealing with for years.

He, of course, asked me why. I told him that other than the the fact that he should let a newly set up tank sit empty for a day, that the tanks there were in horrible condition. An employee who was stocking dogfood shot me a dirty look, but I went on to show my nephew what he should avoid when buying fish.

The water was brackish, the tanks were overpopulated, most had badly decomposed fish in them, and one tank was infested with velvet. I dont even want to talk about thier Betes.

I'm noy a crusader or anything, but maybe a some kind of internet campaign could get them to clean up thier act.

[Lady Hobbs]

Well, I may be on a campaign myself as I went back to the very WalMart I heard from this week and the fish looked like they'd gone thru a blender. I told their employer that Walmart should be ashamed and she said "they probably come in that way." Ya Right. If they come that way from their supplier, their shipments should be cancelled.