More Than Just A Little Fish

Here is a picture of some Betta Fish kept at a PETCO store in Seattle.  It makes me so sad.  How could anybody think it's ok to keep an animal in this type of a condition?  I don't care where they belong on the food chain, they are animals too!  Just look at them!  How miserable.  Do they look happy to you?  Isn't a fish supposed to swim?  They look half dead to me, I think some of them even were. And look at the sign!  It's not even straight!  Does this signify a company that cares about animals?  I don't think so.  

I snapped a picture in the moment and when I pulled the photo up on my computer, I just knew I had to do something.  I called to speak with the manager who at first gave me some spiel about them being Betta fish and that the fish was able to live in small reef ponds.  I stopped him pretty quick, and told him that there is no way that keeping these fish in a tiny pint sized container was any comparison to their natural habitat.  A Betta fish forum talks about the issue and says "You could probably keep a dog alive if you left it confined to a tiny, cold closet, but you could never expect it to be healthy or thrive."  So true and common sense.  Why do people do this? 

Towards the end of our conversation he had nothing to say accept agree with me and ramble on about how at the PETCO he worked at they tried their best to keep their animals in clean and healthy environments, i.e. changing the poor fishes water 2 times a week, instead of just once (which was what was recommended by source where the fish came from).  He gave me a number to call "corporate".   

I called.  After waiting and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to speak with somebody, all I got was some guy who couldn't speak very good English and a "ticket number".  "Yes mam, we will be inquiring about this and hopefully be resolving the problem (blah blah blah)."  So for now, the lively hood of these fish has been reduced down to a number.  What does this type of treatment to a live being say about our society?  ARGH!  I'm frustrated, so I here I am, writing about it.

After doing my own research, I have come to find out that a Betta fish actually needs a lot more than a pint sized jar.  If you're interested in finding out for yourself, you can read up about it out here, then you can see for yourselves everything that PETCO is not doing!  In fact, they are doing pretty much the opposite of what they should be doing to keep these fish alive and healthy.  

'Nough said people!  If this bothers you, spread the word!