Animal Cruelty... what can I do?

Question

I was at a pet shop with a friend the other day and I saw something very sad. There were a lot of fish there that were just in little dishes... like what potato salad comes from the store in... just about 1 cup of water. Anyway, the fish not only had no room to move about, the water was not properly aerated, they just had a hole punched in the top of their dish lid, but since they were stacked up, I can't see how the bottom fish could breathe. The water in the dish had not been cleaned for some time, and there were obviously very ill -- even dead!-- fish just lying there in dishes on the shelf underneath a big hot light.

This is all just terrible to me! I already volunteer quite a lot at the local animal shelter, but I don't know what to do... they don't take fish, and I haven't the money or resources to care for them. What can I do to help the poor little fish?

Answer 1

you were probably talking about betta fish. this is a good amount of room for them, as they are lazy.

i know how you feel though. ive been in pet stores and seen horrible things. heres what i discovered, all in one shop, all in one day.

-baby corn snakes in tiny little tupperware containers, with no food/water.
-mice, guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits kept in mixed sex cages.
-syrian hamsters, two in a cage. (highly territorial)
-dead gerbil.
-at least 6 rats, in a ten gallon aquarium.
-dozens of dead fish.
-dozens of dead frogs, tadpoles.
-many animals without food/water.

it really hurts, to know how some places treat living creatures. It is cruelty. pet shops = animal hell. be wary of any pet store where there are any dead animals gone unnoticed. also watch out for same sex cages. and any pet store, where there is a person NOT DOING ANYTHING, is not a place to be buying from. in a good pet store, there is always something to be cleaned, fed or watered, or played with.

as for the poor fish. ask the pet shop owner if he could clean them out and unstack them. if he refuses, call the ASPCA, and have them take them away and give them to the humane society. keep returning to the store every day to see if their conditions have improved. they probably aren't being fed well either.

well, i hope this helps. God Bless You for caring so much. i wish there were more people like you. the world would be a better place.

Answer 2

Unfortunatly, there usually isn't anything you can do. I know the feeling, our local Wal-mart has tons of bettas in tiny cups, and they never clean them. My heart sinks evey time I see them.

You can try talking to the owner of the petstore, or even the manager, and explain what you saw, and how horrible you think it is to keep fish that way. Ask friends, family, or anyone you know to comment on the bad care of the fish. If enough people complain, they will have to change it or they will get a bad rep. And no business, means no paycheck.

Maybe try to snap a picture for proof, especially if you decide to turn it into a humane society or animal rights group. But, If any of your local humane societys are anything like ours, they will just shrug it off because they think fish arn't as important.

As hard as it is, don't buy any of the sick fish and 'rescue' them. You are only supporting the cause and making room for more fish to be kept that way.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Those fish were betta, and though its a bad situation IMHO they can technically live that way, and as far as I am aware there isnt any laws really protecting fish as pets, hell some guy got away with putting a fish in a blender and blending it and calling it art.

My suggestion would b e to go to the manager and point out that seeing animals liek this really bothered you and you will not be shopping there until they either stop selling betta, or keep them in better conditions.

They will of course claim they can live happily like that, which is BS. But there is nothing that really can be done from a legal standpoint. Unless you sue the store because seeing the fish dying or dead harmed you (or your kids) emotionally!

Answer 4

Cups are an appropriate way to transport bettas from supplier to consumer. The fish are safe from each other, the spread of disease, and from being cruches in transport (as many bags are).
The problem is that stores stack them and many stores don't bother opening the cups to clean the water or feed the fish. Its also a problem because people think they thrive in small spaces (in the wild they have thousands of gallons).
Luckily, the turnover rate is usually high and they don't spend much time in the cups.

Answer 5

Well first off I agree with some others they might be Bettas. But I agree with you that they should be taken care of not left in murky water under hot lights. You can call the Better Business Bureau, the local SPCA hell or even someplace like PETA if you are really concerned about whats going on. I dont know if anythng will come of it but you can try. Also if you go into thaty store again call the people on it and ask whats going on and why the conditions are so bad...

Answer 6

I'm guessing these are betta fish, right? Bettas are often kept like this in petstores because bettas are extremely hardy and can survive in terribly conditions because they breathe air. Someone once likened it to being in a cold bus shelter. It's miserable in small doses, but you can handle it; you just wouldn't want to live there.
However, there's no excuse for dirty water and dead fish. Talk to the manager! Be polite, but definitely tell them that this kind of display gives customers the impression that they don't care about their animals, and they be buying fish that are half dead, starved, sick, diseased, etc. He'll probably tell you that's how bettas live in the wild - which is untrue. But tell him that just because an animal lives in a less than ideal condition in the wild, does that mean they have to live like that in captivity? Would it be acceptable for him to just throw a dead rabbit into the cat cage for the cats to disembowel?
Then write a couple letters, send one to the manager to remind him and then go over his head and send out to the company who owns the petstore if you do not see improvement.

Hopefully you can manage to improve the situation for those fish.

Lastly, I don't know if you were planning on it, but resist the impulse to buy them to rescue them, because the petstore will just go and buy more and make more money from the sale.

Answer 7

These are Beta fish and their housing in the pet store is appropriate.
Betta or Beta fish are air breathers - they have a labyrinth organ which allows them to not only breath with gills - but to also breath with a "lung". Bettas come from Thailand. The thrive in small polluted "puddles" of mirky water with low oxygen. This is normal for them and they THRIVE in it.
The pet shop has them in tiny containers for a specific reason. MALES CANNOT BE HOUSED TOGETHER. Male Betta fish will kill each other. They MUST be housed alone - or with females (females are rare to be found in pet stores - they usually have to be purchased from a breeder).
I have Betta fish and I AGREE that they should not be PERMANENTLY housed this way - to do so for sale is fine.

Now, that being said - if the fish looked ill or worse - dead - I would certainly call a manager immediately and alert them to the problem. I would also let them know that you will be contacting your local animal control bureau.

FOR HEAVENS SAKE - DO NOT BUY THEM. Buying or "saving" these fish will only encourage the store to order more for sale - Boycotting is the best way to get your point across.

Answer 8

I have mixed emotions about animal cruelty. i'm in touch by preventing cruelty at the same time as it includes drowning kittens and clubbing seals, and beating domestic dogs. yet not a lot at the same time as it includes swatting the biting flies, poisoning the fleas on my canines and burning lime ailment wearing expensive tics off of my youngsters legs...

Answer 9

Beta's are usually sold in such containers. They generally seem to fair just fine in them. Also, Beta's do not need airators. Of course some will die, just as some of any type of fish in any sized container will die. Ideally they should be moved to a larger tank once purchased, but it is common practice to sell them in small plastic containers. I agree that they should be placed in larger containers, but with nearly every pet store in america doing it, there is really nothing you can do about it.

Answer 10

they are beta and yeah I agree with you that is animal cruelty!I would go up to that manager and scream in his or her face telling them do you want to live in that condition and questions like that they should be kept in tanks and when you buy them they should put the fish in a plastic fish bag was that so hard! I dont mean that to you I mean it to the petstore people