I just couldn't leave him there...

[goddessecouture]

My tale begins as so many do - "I wasn't PLANNING on buying any fish today."

Well, I wasn't. My QT tank is currently occupied by fry. But when I stopped by my local Walmart to pick up a few things today, I naturally had to stroll through the fish section, as I always do. They had five bettas in those awful little containers. Four were dead. One even had BROWN water. It was terrible. The one remaining live one was a lovely, proud male crowntail. I walked away...

I thought about the poor thing the whole time I was doing the rest of my shopping. Long story short - I just couldn't leave him. He's come home with me. I'll sort out quarantine measures as best I can.

[Pele]

:worthless:

Once you get those up though, awsome. Its always nice to save a fish from there, although I personally think its best to buy fish from a reputable source, because your purchase tells walmart that you'll buy more fish if they're kept poorly

[goddessecouture]

I don't normally buy fish from there - like EVER! The tanks are hideous and there are dead fish in every one. I think they just get a shipment and do nothing until they're sold or dead. He was just too good to let languish like that. I'll post a pic a soon as I get him set up somehow. At the moment, I'm acclimating in a gallon jar.

[goddessecouture]

Well, the poor little guy was just too far gone. Didn't even last two hours.

[ekfishlover2011]

:( Poor fishy. Being a walmart fish is a hard life. Im glad none of my walmarts sell bettas. Id never be able to go in there again, after seeing the massacre they call betta aisle. I refuse to buy fish from walmart. Only reputable pet stores or my moms somehow crazily fertile tank.

[goddessecouture]

It's a heartbreak I don't think I'll repeat. I've got a very good LFS I think I'll stick to for all future purchases. And Meijer is not so bad either - at least for fish quality. The service there on the other hand....

[bignellm]

Two hours? Makes me think Betta died of Nitrate shock, when you moved from filthy fish container from Wally world to clean new water...

Sorry to hear about this. I'd take the fish and container back and demand refund. Make them understand the cruelty they put the fish through... 1 penny to them at a time. :)

[ldoerr]

+1000000000000000000000000000000000000 to bignellm. That is animal crulty.

[Pele]

>Implying Walmart will care that the fish died

The most you're getting is a refund, if they cared about the conditions the fish are kept in the wouldnt sell fish

[ekfishlover2011]

If everybody knows the walmart fish buying rule (dont), how do they stay in business? I mean, dont they lose all sorts of money ordering the stock of the fish they keep killing? The one i go to that sells fish is finally starting to get better at fish keeping (they dont sell bettas in walmarts around here, just other fish) and there is actually life in their tanks, but for 2 years i saw tanks full of dead fish there! How can the owner of this place keep throwing money away like that on fish that they cant take care of and dont get sold? Ill never understand marketing i guess...

[Kriblover]

I never would buy from there. Worst fish ever. I've been soooooooo tempted to buy some because how bad it is. I would maybe buy feeders but maybe!!!

[RayM]

Isn't there some organisation that you can report these places to for animal cruelty? In Aus we have the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals). They wouldn't last too long trying to keep fish in these commercial condtions over here, they'd be fined and banned from keeping fish.

[goddessecouture]

I should take back my "I don't buy from there ever" comment. I did previously buy one gorgeous twin bar platy from there, because I hadn't seen any anywhere else. He's still doing very well. The tank looked good that day. Must've been a new shipment.

[Pele]

You can argue animal cruelty all you want, Walmart is a buissiness, if it turns a profit theyll do it

[goddessecouture]

I honestly don't think I've ever heard of an animal welfare group (at least, one with any authority) who give a damn about fish. At least not aquarium fish.

[ekfishlover2011]

me either. Sadly, the world seems to think fish are disposable creatures that dont need welfare protection. They seem to categorize them with how i categorize bugs, in the "who cares" section.

[Brhino]

Some groups like PETA believe fish shouldn't be kept as pets at all. So, you can take that option I guess.


Anyhow, anytime you "rescue" a fish by buying it out of poor conditions, you are in fact supporting stores that do not take care of their fish. By doing so you are supporting their business and dooming more fish to be kept in the same condition. If you don't like the way Store X treats their stock, don't buy from them. End of story.

[goddessecouture]

As my Walmart has a tendency to stop stocking everything that I like, I could almost believe if I made them my exclusive fish supplier, they'd stop selling them. Meh, not worth the horrid stock I'd be obtaining.

[goddessecouture]

I did consider making up signs to stick on the tanks saying, "Don't support Walmart's cruel fishkeeping practices. Tell them, 'Do it right or don't do it at all!'"

[ekfishlover2011]

good idea if you dont get caught! ;)

[goddessecouture]

Yeah, but they've got cameras everywhere.

[ekfishlover2011]

:( Almost impossible mission then...

[RayM]

me either. Sadly, the world seems to think fish are disposable creatures that dont need welfare protection. They seem to categorize them with how i categorize bugs, in the "who cares" section.
That is a bit sad. Anybody who has kept fish knows they have their own personalities and respond to good care and attention, just like any other pet.

I now have trouble coping with fishing and the catch and release mentality of sports fishing.

How would Walmart respond if lots of people wrote to their managers or the bigger bosses telling them that the way they keep their fish was upsetting a lot of people who visit their stores and it is appalling that a big busines such as theirs has nobody looking after their fish properly to the extent that they are dying a slow death for all their customers to see?

[Brhino]

How would Walmart respond if lots of people wrote to their managers or the bigger bosses telling them that the way they keep their fish was upsetting a lot of people who visit their stores and it is appalling that a big busines such as theirs has nobody looking after their fish properly to the extent that they are dying a slow death for all their customers to see?

How much would said letter-writing campaign affect Walmart's sales? Not a bit.

So what would they do about it? Nothing.

[goddessecouture]

They responded when people thought they'd gone anti-Christmas. The following year they made sure to inform the press just how pro-Christmas they were. (I'm a journalist, but at my small paper I have no power to just take on Walmart with editorials or anything - so don't ask. My boss would just think I'd gone nuts. He doesn't like to stir the soup and our corporate office is even worse. "Don't tick off the advertisers!") My point is, if enough people stirred up a stink, it actually could make a difference. But it would have to be on a very large scale and get big media attention.

[RayM]

I would hope that if a business knew of anything that adversely affected their customers and stock, they would try to fix it.
As most people just vote with their feet and stop going there, a letter from a concerned customer is the sort of feedback they ususally pay people to give so they are aware of where they can do better.

Worth a go I say.

[ekfishlover2011]

im in. :) so what, do we write to walmart main corporate?

[RayM]

I would try the individual stores that are managing their fish badly first.
If you get no joy there, then try the main corporate. Who knows, it may just be the way individual stores are managed and not a corporation-wide issue.
The managers could be completely oblivious to how people are feeling about the dead and dying fish and jump at the chance to fix things.

[ekfishlover2011]

ok. i shall start with York walmart then. Used to see the death tanks everyday...

[RayM]

So how is the fish situation going in Walmart? Any improvements?

[goddessecouture]

Interestingly, the last couple of times I've been in there, I haven't seen any dead fish - including the bettas.

[RayM]

Well that is good news. Did anybody contact any of the managers?

I would like to think that this was in response to a store-wide notice that they needed to get their fishy act together.

Whatever the reason, I think it is good that the situation has improved.thumbs2: