hooxeii

I really, really dislike bettas being given away as prizes at college events. While a few people know what they're doing and will care for their fish well, some of my fellow students are absolute morons... some are even evil. The following horror stories are from TONIGHT, and keep in mind that the people distributing the "prizes" give detailed information packets with the fish...

A girl down the hall from me killed her fish in a matter of hours because she dumped THE ENTIRE bottle of water conditioner in the tiny bowl with the fish.

A pair of guys said quite honestly they were going to put their male bettas together just to watch them fight.

A girl said that she was going to put her betta in with her goldfish. Y'know, a totally incompatible fish.

I'm sorry, but life is life, and bettas, as living things, deserve respect and decent care. Apologies if this kind of post isn't allowed, but I needed to vent to people who'd understand.

JoeSmo

I totally understand where you are coming from. It's aggrivating to see people kill innocent life, after all life is life and should be respected. Unfortunanty, it's a sad fact that there are morons/cruel people who do these things.

ATKINSON

Some people are inconsiderate idiots!!!

COBettaCouple

It's really sad how life is cheap and so many people just have no respect or heart for innocent and defenseless lives.

aquarist48

Welcome to Fish Lore Hoox. A very sad story that happens "way" too often. Here is a link that maybe you could print and share with your friends that still have Bettas alive:
Welcome and Betta Care Guide - Please Read First!!!
Ken

Amanda

That's terrible! But the lives of fish, and usually animals in general do not matter to most people. We are a disposable society, when something breaks (or in this case - dies) we just buy another.
Welcome to fishlore!

Red1313

I haven't seen many fish given away as prizes but I do understand where you're coming from.

bolivianbaby

That's absolutely horrific! Unfortunately, there are a lot of humans who need to realize that animals are not here for our entertainment and they are living creatures.

whisper

That's just horrible! The same goes for the poor little goldfish that are given away at carnivals and fairs. There should be a law against this type of thing.

ABCDemily

This is horrible

Over here we used to be able to win goldfish. My friend won three and now they're living in a MASSIVE BiOrb. They look like very happy fish now. And they're well over 6 years now. That gives me hope lol

whisper

They are three very lucky little fish. Most people that win them don't have a clue how to take care of them nor do they care.

pamd

hooxeii,

Your message is spot on, very respectful and will probably be agreed upon by almost all members here. You have vented in the right forum, and I hope you can further spread your message across campus and even more widely on the Internet.

Welcome to Fish Lore and come back soon!

chickadee

I thoroughly agree. I have seen posts on You Tube where students would throw bettas in together and tape the struggle til one or more of them died. I always complained and eventually enough people would too until the tape would be removed. I do not understand the need some people have to hurt living things and think it is cute.

IMHO it is not.

Rose

Diggly

There is in rome, they banned giving away fish as prizes and the small goldfish bowls!

whisper

Well they need to do the same thing in the US.

Phinny12

It used to be that Bettas were not so available as they are now..You had to seek them out and only people that reall knew how to care for them knew where to get them.Now they are "mass produced" and most people that buy them don't have a clue how to care for them and also the pet store personel selling them are misinformed as to the proper care of these animals. They should be banned from pet stores! It is a disgrace how abused Bettas have become.

Angelwhispers

This sort of thing really peeves me off!

A friend of mine was getting married on a boat, and the package included a 4 hour cruise for the wedding party. The bride and groom decided that it would be fun to have Bettas in glass vases as centrepieces for their tables. When I asked her what she planned on doing with them afterwards, she said she was going to let her guests take them home. That's exactly what she did, with no details on how to take care of them, what to feed them or anything.

Why do people treat pets as some fancy table decoration or a prize instead of them being what they should be - a member of the family??

COBettaCouple

It says a lot about our society.. life is cheap and I think a lot of people could learn from these little pets they treat like a piece of candy.