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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Petco really sucks.....
There was a new mall that opened near here, so me and my girlfriend decided to check it out on Friday. Now, Petsmart doesn't exactly do a wonderful job, but in comparison they do so much better for the bettas than the Petco does. All the bettas there looked really depressed, not moving at all....they were not in the "blue water" that is supposed to keep bettas somewhat healthier. All the cups had a bunch of crud in them. Really bothered me, wish I had another tank  |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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yea.. i feel like that whenever i go by the bettas at any of the stores.. i wish they'd realize their bettas would look (and feel) so much better in at least a beanie baby box or something that size.. the cups petco,petsmart and walmart use are far too small.
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Bettas or 'Siamese fighting fish' as all the stores call them here always get the worst deal. You would think that creatures as beautiful as these would be treasured and shown off!!!
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October 22nd, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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yea, unfortunately to these big companies, they're just inventory. 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tazmiche
Bettas or 'Siamese fighting fish' as all the stores call them here always get the worst deal. You would think that creatures as beautiful as these would be treasured and shown off!!!
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
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unfortunately to these big companies, they're just inventory
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Yeah, and near-worthless inventory that you dump when it expires. 
8 days ago, there was one leftover cup on Walmart's betta shelf. Had been there two weeks.
This pitiful ittybitty girl was in it, dying of ammonia poisoning and I'm sure minutes away from being flushed. No one wanted such a plain fish, but I did. Took a week of constant TLC to bring her back to life.
Here she is in her nasty cup, and how she is now, cruising her new domain (way at the top)and eating like a little piglet.  What a character she is! |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbrella
Yeah, and near-worthless inventory that you dump when it expires.
8 days ago, there was one leftover cup on Walmart's betta shelf. Had been there two weeks.
This pitiful ittybitty girl was in it, dying of ammonia poisoning and I'm sure minutes away from being flushed. No one wanted such a plain fish, but I did. Took a week of constant TLC to bring her back to life.
Here she is in her nasty cup, and how she is now, cruising her new domain (way at the top)and eating like a little piglet. What a character she is! |
That's great to hear that you have given her such a great home!!!! |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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That is so sweet, Barbrella! She's lucky you came along.  |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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I feel lucky that I got there in time.
Maybe we should have a thread with Before and Afters?
I love happy endings. |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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congrats on saving her.. the females show stress so easy that people don't know how colorful and lively they can be. (This is where smart companies would want to make them look better.)
We got our female Sweetie and the 'before' pic there shows her green due to the flash but she was dull brown with heavy stress lines. she was missing the pectoral fin on that side, along with a lot of scales and most of her anal fin.. lying in the bottom of a cup. a sure goner.
Now she's the move lively and fiesty betta that we have with amazing fins that i can't seem to capture the rainbow coloring of very well (the 'after' pic is the best try at it).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbrella
I feel lucky that I got there in time.
Maybe we should have a thread with Before and Afters?
I love happy endings. |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Great save Barbrella!! Congratulations! Natalie |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Bum
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I keep trying to change things at the Petco that I manage, but it never gets far sadly. I've taken the bettas and released them into our big tanks with peaceful, non fancy finned fish, but that never lasts. :/
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October 22nd, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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yea, you're one of the good ones and working for Petco has to be frustrating. I realize how story policy is determined mostly (if not completely) by the corporate offices. we appreciate you doing what you can for the fish at your store.
If only the company would realize that the bettas (especially the females) would look much more attractive to customers in larger containers. and let's face it, the way the company treats fish costs them millions a year in business from the people who'd be most likely to spend a lot and keep spending. Alienating the long-term fish keepers who can easily spend $1000+ a year for the short-term business of people with a passing fancy for fish and developing a reputation of "Deathco" does hurt the bottom line and i think the costs of treating fish (particularly bettas) better would be more than made up for in increased business.
we order everything except live fish from the DFS website after having just had it with the corporate philosophy of the top Petco execs. Plus the manager of the store in St. Augustine has the cashiers routinely double-charging people. (that and a couple other incidents sent us looking online just so we could avoid spending money at that store.) He's like 180 degrees opposite of you with the dirtiest tanks always full of dead and decaying fish and the dirtiest betta cups i've ever seen.
between tanks, supplies, food, meds, decor, etc. and the fish themselves our fish budget is easily 4 figures annually and we're just getting started in fish-keeping. So many people who are in this for the long-term spend more and feel the same way we do... and there goes millions a year in business. doesn't seem smart to me and shows the contempt and disregard the head execs have for fish owners.
feel free to pass this on to the "big boys" at the top.. i know more than a couple members have sent letters in to them, only to get a standard "you're stupid" form reply. petsmart isn't much better and if Petco as a corporation would change, they could gain a large loyal bunch of spending customers.
i wish you managed the store near us. we'd shop there if you did. you're one of the good ones and again, we appreciate your efforts to help the bettas and other fish at your store.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Windchaser
I keep trying to change things at the Petco that I manage, but it never gets far sadly. I've taken the bettas and released them into our big tanks with peaceful, non fancy finned fish, but that never lasts. :/
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Keeper
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Bottom line is profit/loss. Petstores care little to nothing about the merchandise they sell. Sadly, those of us who cannot resist taking a half-dead betta home are rewarding the abusers by giving them money. I'm guilty of this too!
The only way this treatment will stop is if petstores lose money and in order for that to happen, everyone would have to stop buying bettas, or any other pet that is being mistreated. The minute we take that one out, another takes it's place.
I guess if they got enough letters saying something like "Neither I, nor anyone I know will shop at your place of business until conditions improve", would be the only way.
I really don't know a definitive answer to this shameful situation. |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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i really think there is opportunity for a national chain of fish stores that treat fish properly, certainly the handful of good managers that petco and petsmart have would be happier working for a company like that and i know we'd shop there very frequently. ordering online gets us the supplies and all, but going to the store & looking at the fish.. that's fun for us fishkeepers and we would LOVE shopping at a store where we didn't leave feeling so bad for the Bettas and other fish dying in it. |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Bum
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For sure. On the bright side the original owner has taken control of the company once again and things are looking brighter, but you know how that goes.
The only thing I can really do consistantly is educate the customers that come into my store on what really is best for the fish. I'm always talking them out of those retarded little coffee cup bowls and crap like that and into buying at least a 3 gallon tank for their bettas.
On the bright side I have managed to hire a great Aquatics Specialtist that has been cleaning up my fish department. Now he and I just gotta get the others that do routine maintainence in the department to understand the importance of doing things right.
I just need to find 2 more specialists to care for the birds and small animals (my fish guy is also a great reptile hobbyist and actually breeds bearded dragons himself) and things will look better.
On an upscale I managed to get rid of those stupid signs on the betta end cap that talk about bettas being capable of living in spaces no bigger than a cup in my store. They went to more generic signs that talk about bettas in general (true information for once).
Many of the betta specific tanks that have been coming in (Petco's own brand now) have been getting bigger, too! Many of them are at least 3 gallons, and the little crappy things are being discontinued and put on clearance to get rid of them! 
Sadly, in the end, everything in the stores are just money to the corporote office. That's all they care about, just like every other big business. As you said, they fail to see the big picture most of the time. We could do so much more if we could get the funding and support from the head office for the animals (not just fish).
What makes things tolerable for me is focusing on the good things that I have managed to do while working with the company such as working closely with adoption groups closely and hosting events every weekend to get animals into loving homes (helped 54 puppies this weekend find good homes! WOOT!)
I'll keep doing what I can and what I feel is right no matter what the yahoos in the main office think they know.
Whew! I'm done ranting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by COBettaCouple
yea, you're one of the good ones and working for Petco has to be frustrating. I realize how story policy is determined mostly (if not completely) by the corporate offices. we appreciate you doing what you can for the fish at your store.
If only the company would realize that the bettas (especially the females) would look much more attractive to customers in larger containers. and let's face it, the way the company treats fish costs them millions a year in business from the people who'd be most likely to spend a lot and keep spending. Alienating the long-term fish keepers who can easily spend $1000+ a year for the short-term business of people with a passing fancy for fish and developing a reputation of "Deathco" does hurt the bottom line and i think the costs of treating fish (particularly bettas) better would be more than made up for in increased business.
we order everything except live fish from the DFS website after having just had it with the corporate philosophy of the top Petco execs. Plus the manager of the store in St. Augustine has the cashiers routinely double-charging people. (that and a couple other incidents sent us looking online just so we could avoid spending money at that store.) He's like 180 degrees opposite of you with the dirtiest tanks always full of dead and decaying fish and the dirtiest betta cups i've ever seen.
between tanks, supplies, food, meds, decor, etc. and the fish themselves our fish budget is easily 4 figures annually and we're just getting started in fish-keeping. So many people who are in this for the long-term spend more and feel the same way we do... and there goes millions a year in business. doesn't seem smart to me and shows the contempt and disregard the head execs have for fish owners.
feel free to pass this on to the "big boys" at the top.. i know more than a couple members have sent letters in to them, only to get a standard "you're stupid" form reply. petsmart isn't much better and if Petco as a corporation would change, they could gain a large loyal bunch of spending customers.
i wish you managed the store near us. we'd shop there if you did. you're one of the good ones and again, we appreciate your efforts to help the bettas and other fish at your store.
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October 22nd, 2007
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Bum
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LOL! Never know where I'll end up.
I'd love to float around the area and hit the stores up in bad shape and clean em up.  |
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October 22nd, 2007
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Fish Bum
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Still theres alot of mistreated animals there :/ Even if people try to clean up the stores and take better care of their stock some way or another they still go down hill. I went to Petfair a few days ago and I was so mad that they put a clearly sick female and male together to 'breed real quick' It made me sick -.- Luckily I saved the female while someone else at the store bought the male (Real nice lady) So I guess these to little fishies got a good ending ^.^ I would post before and after pics but she's camra shy XD |
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