tattooed fish at my LFS--awful!

[gemini69]

I went to one of our local pet stores today looking for some water testing supplies. I was checking out the fish like I always do and found tattooed balloon mollies. It was unbelievable--they had hearts tattooed on them, multicolored stripes and one even had the word "love" tattooed on it. How awful.

Am I allowed to say which pet store it was?

I buy my dog food at this store all the time but I'm gonna write them a letter and tell them I won't anymore because of those fish.

[oldhead]

Wow. This is one of those things that I need to see a picture of. I wonder what would prompt anyone to attempt such a thing. Are company's really this desperate to attract newcomers to this hobby?

[mrs fishpatrick]

what kind of person would buy such a fish?
it's rotten to do this to a living creature

[FordForever]

I refuse to support a store that will sell these fish.

[Spyder]

I've seen them in my LFS's too and not only is it cruel but they are ugly.

[Northernguy]

They are disgusting !:c11:



Make some artificial puke and go back to that store and....:27:


Please No don't do that, because I mentioned it:14:
BBut ya , write a letter to the local news paper.

[gm72]

What store is it so that we all know to stay away.

Talk to the manager and write the paper, great ideas both.

[gemini69]

Store is Pet Supplies Plus. I'm in the midwest.

I couldn't believe it. I did a double take when I saw the heart on the fish and, stupidly, thought that's weird. Then I realized they all looked like someone had been drawing on them. How bizarre. Can't imagine why someone would want that.

[gm72]

Can't imagine why someone would want that.

Ignorance. People don't understand how that little heart gets there. That's why there are people like us to provide education so people understand the terrible nature of the design.

[cocoa_pleco]

Can't imagine why someone would want that.

pure marketing, they aim dyed fish at people who see fish as disposable 1-week pets, not true long term hobbiests

[FordForever]

pure marketing, they aim dyed fish at people who see fish as disposable 1-week pets, not true long term hobbiests

Exactly! God bless the little mollies... :(

[cocoa_pleco]

one of the main reasons wal-mart sells lots of dyed fish, fully aimed at kids who want a one week pet in a bowl

what realls pi$$es me off is theres a small city a hour and a half from me i sometimes go to, and theres 2 small petstores, and a wal-mart. the wal-mart stocks oscars, blood parrots, red devils, jack dempseys, etc. and the largest tank sizes they sell are 3g!

[Mvjnz]

Actually, I've heard of the same thing happening in other stores, which attracted the news, and the store said they'd never asked for the fish, they must have been included in the shipment from Asia by mistake.

So that's a possibility, seeing as stores don't get to see fish before they buy them.

[Dave66]

They've been bringing out those abominations around holidays for the last couple years. Reason they keep stocking the things is enough shallow, ignorant people buy them to make the practice commercially viable.
The practice of tattooing fish was started in Asia many, many decades ago for identifying Betta brood stock. The mollie thing for a marketing gimmick showed up in Japan around 1987-88, which was the last time I was there.
I applaud your decision to boycott that shop, gemini. I just wish more people were of good conscience when confronted with such a disgusting display of animal abuse.

Dave

[Gayle]

I hate the idea of tattooing fish, or any animal. I think that anyone who would buy a fish that has been treated so cruel should have to pay fines. I also believe that stores that sell them should not only be fined, but have their ability to sell fish taken away, one way of another, for a few months at least. If people were made responsible for this type of act, stores would not sell them for the fear of financial loss. I am glad you are writing the letter, and no longer shopping there! YOU ROCK!!!

[chronic]

Thats gross!.. when my cat got sick and I spent a fortune getting him well, my boss told me "you're an idiot, people give cats away for free"

People are retarded. I hope cats and fish eat them.

[Lowflyer]

A friend of mine bought an albino cory that has a red tail, he didn't know about the whole fish dye thing, so I told him how they do it and he was shocked and now there is another fish dyer non-supporter in the world. I can't understand how anything like that would look attractive to someone, especially since the fish had to suffer. I wonder how many people would buy them if every pet shop that stocked dyed fish put a sign up above every tank with them in showing the people how they got that colour.

[sailor]

I defineately don't agree with this practice either. We sent a batch of dyed fish back to our supplier that was a freebie included in a fish order we recieved.

[Northernguy]

In a way, I feel bad for the fish.Is there a way to safely remove the tatoo or should I say advertisement!
Its not like the fish did it on purpose to look cool or something.All these fish are dying a nasty death and its not their fault.Its the S.O.B. that put the sign there in the first place.
I do agree with the ban on buying or owning them around here.I almost feel like I should be trying to give these fish a last chance at life.

Am I the only one?

[MrDrums]

It is pretty wierd, but I'm not sure I'd boycott a store over it. In the grand scheme of things, a fish with a dumb tattoo isn't too big of a deal. Sorry. I mean, if they have sucky customer service, well then that's another thing altogether!

[kvuyk2]

Store is Pet Supplies Plus. I'm in the midwest.

I couldn't believe it. I did a double take when I saw the heart on the fish and, stupidly, thought that's weird. Then I realized they all looked like someone had been drawing on them. How bizarre. Can't imagine why someone would want that.


I'm in the Midwest and buy my dog's and my cat's food at Pet Supplies Plus, too! I saw balloon molies with bright pink, green, and blue stripes and a couple heart-shapes! I wonder who adds the coloring to the fish and how...it's so unnatural to "tattoo"/"paint" fish. I think the bright coloring and cutesy choice in design signifies whoever sells the fish to the store is marketing them toward children. Weird. :-/

[cocoa_pleco]

I wonder who adds the coloring to the fish and how

its usually scientists that do it, and usually its by needle injection

[Northernguy]

I wondered how it was done.Pretty sick sh*t !I'm glad i have only seen them in a few pics.
Sometimes it pays to live 200 miles from nothing!

[BigMac]

I just saw a tank full of fish that had lipstick tatoos and colored lines on them.

Nice shop accept for that. They had everyhing you could want and EVERYTHING was nice. Accept they actually bought thses fish. They wanted more than 50 bucks too!

[MrDrums]

Again....a fish with a tattoo? I have more important things to worry about. I wonder how the fish feels about the tattoo when it's old and wrinkly. Doesn't seem like such a great idea looking back now, does it?!?!?!?

[cocoa_pleco]

I wonder how the fish feels about the tattoo when it's old and wrinkly

sad thing is tattooing fish takes so much off of their life (even 50% of their lifespan off) they dont have a chance to get old and wrinkly

[gourami*girl]

its usually scientists that do it, and usually its by needle injection

Scientists? Wouldn't it be the fish breeders/ suppliers?

(Trying to stop the image of the mad scientist evily laughing as he injects fish with dye)