betta hell at mutts and butts

[jaws1013]

This past week I had to make a quick stop at Mutts and Butts, which is a localpet store that claims to be big on fish, and I had my heart broken. Out of curiousity I stopped by the aquarium section to see what bettas they had and it was like a chamber of horrors. I knew when i had bought my Sickle he was sick to begin with (which is why he only lasted 3 months), but this was beyond anything. All their bettas where sick. Some had their finnage ravaged so badly that it looked as if they would never recover. Not to mention their water was filthy.

If I could have I think I would have bought them and either nurse them back to health or euthanise them humanly. My fiance and I where looking at their salt water to find one beautiful fish dying. The Kid in the store said he always does that and that's what they do (oh yeah laying on your side with your gills pumping a mile a minute is normal).

I will never go back to that store. And if possible Iwould love to find out how to have them fined for their unclean and cruel treatment of animals. Including their poor fish. anyone know where I can go to help those poor creatures?

[twoluvcats]

ugh, this is always so hard...you are trying to convince a retailer that they are doing something wrong, when most of the time they don't think they are.

Healthybetta.com has a betta care sheet...you can try to bring that in and talk to a manager about thier betta treatment...most of the time this doesn't work tho.

Really...the best thing to do is hit htem in their pocket book. DO NOT purchase anything from them, tell your friends not to purchase anything from them. Let it be known that they have bad 'fish care' practices and that will hurt them more than anything else you can do. Its hard, cause your first instinct is to buy all of them you can and save them...but in the long run this doesn't save fish...the store just gets more and conitues to do what they were doing. Educating consumers is the best way to go.

[dixieamazon]

Write a letter to the owner as well. Sometimes they are not around and don't realize what is going on. I just reported one of the jumbo pet stores to their home office. I go a nice reply e-mail and claims that the manger and district manager had been notified. When I returned all the water had been changed and the Bettas looked better.

[bcroft]

Hmm never even heard of this place before..

[Caleen]

I have such a hard time with NOT rescuing fish (yeah, I do really well, lol, that's why I have two new fish from an LPS because I felt so badly for them).

Really though, it is best to spread the word and not buy from them. If they aren't able to sell very many Bettas, one can hope that eventually they will stop carrying them.

[jeromee]

I don't really think you want them to stop carrying them, they just need to take better care of them, I'm down for any place that wants to sell bettas, I mean, hell, if superfresh started carrying them I wouldn't complain, aslong as they took the proper steps to keep them healthy. Most places get this idea that bettas live in mudholes all their life, so they don't need the proper care other fish do, theres a local pet store around here, that is VERY good with everything but their bettas, I mean, they aren't completely horrible with them, but, they aren't all that great either. Their fish aren't sick, or dying, but aren't in optimal conditions either. But you have to look at the market, 80% of the people who buy bettas, stick them in vases with a plant on top, so its not like a fish store is going to take amazing care of them in the first place, people just don't care, which pisses me off. People need to be educated fully, not stopped from buying/selling these guys!

[ruthven78]

I once turned in a local walmart to their home office for deplorably conditions, I'd prbably say 1/3 of their fish stock showed signs of sickness, with about 20 dead fish counted, some so dead they were white and decomposing. Two days later their entire fish section was taped off as "not for sale" and someone was draining and cleaning every tank.......

[teresa]

>>stands up and cheers for ruthven<<

Way to strike a blow for fish care and responsibility

[mantis]

At my local Petco in Dallas Tx. They take great care of their bettas! I went in there a year ago and the're conditions were pretty bad, but... they fired the fish guy and hired a new one, and hes taken great care of the fish!!

[winddancer]

Our walmart is doing a good job on caring for the fish now. I kind of complained to the store manager and a couple workers. The containers are larger and the water is clean. I've bought several bettas form there now.I know the fish delivery is Mondays. I've actually bought some nice females form there. total of five now. and 6 males.

[bort]

Hi I'm new here. I am really impressed with the setup here.

I think that as long as bettas (or fish in general) are sold in stores they will always be treated less than idealy. I know a pet shop that treats their bettas that are out in the store really well. They put them in those betta starter aquariums, which I think is smart because it advertises the fish and the kit. But if you go in the back they keep all of the rest of their fish in cups like at all the other pet shops. I just think it's really hard to sell bettas since you can't pack them together in an aquarium like you could with other fish. Of course these employees neglect the basic care of these fish like cleaning the water which doesn't make matters any better. What it comes down to is that they probably just really don't care. If I can buy them for 2.99 Canadian, I can't imagine what these guys got these fish at cost.....