Oh, why won't people listen? :(

I helped with a fundraising yard sale today.

A little girl wanted to buy a small (ahem) fish bowl.
When I asked her if she was going to put a fish in it, she said she already had a betta but it's bowl was too big.

Omg, I wanted to cry! I turned to her mom and asked her, why.
I told her I had a betta too, but I keep her in a 10 gallon and she has room to swim and play.

The lady says, well, ours just sits there. AHHHHHH!
I tried as hard as I could to explain proper betta care, but she just didn't want to hear it.

:'( Somewhere a betta is getting a smaller bowl today and that's sad. I tried, I really did.

 

You have heard.."you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink!" Well this is similar. There has been so much of this, " the fish live in mud puddles and can live in small places with no special care and no more room than a cup of water." I got a fish bowl from a "reputable" fish supply company that is capable of holding 6 ounces of water. It is a lovely little thing in the shape of a heart and has a great little red heart in the front of it to stabilize it to make it stand up straight. The company that makes it says it makes a fine home for a betta. There is not a betta that I have seen who would be able to turn around in it let alone LIVE in it. There is not a way to heat it or filter it and in about 20 minutes it would be so toxic with ammonia the fish would be dead. Furthermore it was sold as a standard item on Drs Foster and Smith.com! This behavior and commericialism makes me sick and I wanted to throw it at the person who gave it to me but instead I gave them a long lecture and told them that no fish would ever see the inside of it. It has never been used for anything but to float a flower and a small one at that. I have been to weddings where they used bettas for table decorations and let them swim in rose bowls or brandy snifters on the reception tables. This behavior infuriates me. I have seen parents who insist on getting their toddlers or small children bettas for first pets. This is a horrid practice. They do not have the slightest idea what the fish needs and the parents do not want something that needs any care at all. The irresponsible store clerks want to sell something so they say get a betta they just need to be put in a bowl and some water added. JERKS!
I have heard at school carnivals they give bettas as fun door prizes to use to send home with people to kick the event off. They perpetuate the irresponsibility of the poor care of these lovely fish.
Will it ever end. Probably not as much as we want it to. No one but us really wants it to. The stores want to keep the madness going and the betta providers don't care. The parents want to keep believing that this is okay as it is a cheap alternative and it really does not matter to most people as they " are only fish after all." How many times have we really heard that?

Rose

 

It makes me angry too. Some humans believe the human race is more important than the animal kingdom. We humans who are supose to be the superior creatures, are the ones ruining the planet, not the animals. Unfortunely there will always be the ones who just don't care.
Some people just don't see what we see in our fish. They are obviously just too busy to see it. Not an excuse in my books.

 

I guess the best we can do is provide the best possible care for the ones we can and do our best to educate others to do the same. Maybe after the woman gets that bowl home and puts her betta in it and he is even more lethargic and quiet she will remember what you have said and try it...you will never know ...BUT...maybe... just maybe you have made life better for one betta....and that is all we can do..make things better for one betta at a time.... ( or maybe 2 or 3)

 

It makes me angry too. Some humans believe the human race is more important than the animal kingdom. We humans who are supose to be the superior creatures, are the ones ruining the planet, not the animals. Unfortunely there will always be the ones who just don't care.
Some people just don't see what we see in our fish. They are obviously just too busy to see it. Not an excuse in my books.

I'm my genetics class there was a discussion about the glofish and other practices.... then the discussion turned around and the class was talking about doing inhumane experiments with animals in order to "benefit" the human race. non surprisingly, most of the class agreed it was ok to do atrocious things to a number of animals "as long as it is to our benefit". After that the conversation turned around and the professor talked about doing the same bad things but this time to a human... then, I said "we shouldnt even do this kind of stuff to animals... it isn't right. it is exactly the same if you do it to a human, the only difference is that we can say "ouch it hurts" and protest about it". After that, a girl got really angry at me and said: "you cannot compare us to inferior creatures!!!! if it is to make our lives better then it is ok to hurt other living things...."

... and almost the entire class supported her and looked at me as if I was crazy. I don't kno what it is but it seem like the people are blind since they are born... it is just maddening that people think like it was afore mentioned "its just fish".

I Love animals. like my fish and my doggy. they all bring you happiness and a smile and love without asking for anything in return... and yet people still think like that.

 

I'm my genetics class there was a discussion about the glofish and other practices.... then the discussion turned around and the class was talking about doing inhumane experiments with animals in order to "benefit" the human race. non surprisingly, most of the class agreed it was ok to do atrocious things to a number of animals "as long as it is to our benefit". After that the conversation turned around and the professor talked about doing the same bad things but this time to a human... then, I said "we shouldnt even do this kind of stuff to animals... it isn't right. it is exactly the same if you do it to a human, the only difference is that we can say "ouch it hurts" and protest about it". After that, a girl got really angry at me and said: "you cannot compare us to inferior creatures!!!! if it is to make our lives better then it is ok to hurt other living things...."

... and almost the entire class supported her and looked at me as if I was crazy. I don't kno what it is but it seem like the people are blind since they are born... it is just maddening that people think like it was afore mentioned "its just fish".

I Love animals. like my fish and my doggy. they all bring you happiness and a smile and love without asking for anything in return... and yet people still think like that.

Oh boy I am glad I am not in school anymore(not for a loooong time now)...boy would have my lips been flapping that situation.
Do you know how many people I freaked out on as kid when they hurt cats or teased them. If I had been keeping fish it would have been the same.
Someday animals will a lot more rights. Until then all we can do is inform the dumb/ignorant morons who can't Google before shopping. ???
The way people treat animals and other people reflects on what type of person they are. I bet most serial killers have hurt or even killed pets of all kinds, un noticed. Now if animals had more rights then maybe people would think twice when someone does hurt an animal.
A teenage boy killed a kitten here in our city, by beating with a golf club. Got out on conditions only to be a part of a city wide chase/search for some crime and his friends did. He was hiding from the police for days, still don't know how that story ended...but see what I am getting at. People with issues are the ones who need to be watched.
In general human need to be more considerate of each other and animals. Oh and more observant of everything.

 

I have heard at school carnivals they give bettas as fun door prizes to use to send home with people to kick the event off. They perpetuate the irresponsibility of the poor care of these lovely fish.

There is a yearly school carnival here that if you make a ball in a bowl, you win a free goldfish. They have probably 500 goldfish in a 20 gallon tank, and they are all gone by the end of the afternoon. I'd be very surprised if a single one made it longer than a few days (if they even made it home at all!) It's so sad!

 

I guess the best we can do is provide the best possible care for the ones we can and do our best to educate others to do the same. Maybe after the woman gets that bowl home and puts her betta in it and he is even more lethargic and quiet she will remember what you have said and try it...you will never know ...BUT...maybe... just maybe you have made life better for one betta....and that is all we can do..make things better for one betta at a time.... ( or maybe 2 or 3)

I'd hate to think about the betta getting sick, but thanks, I do hope she remembers.

I should have accidently broken the bowl.

 

<insert friendly reminder to e-mail or snail-mail Petco and Petsmart and tell them they're info on betta-keeping is wrong.>

Anyway, there are people who, like the spoiled brat in Alessa's class (and this person can only be considered such, to have such a feeling of entitlement that she believed that animals should suffer for her health, longevity, and amusement), just believe that animals don't suffer on the level that we do, despite all evidence to the contrary. I have met many, many such spoiled brats, and have been left speechless at their callousness each and every time.

 

Its college people on a ethic-science class !!!!!!! > I mean... who would think that young people who were "supposedly" raised on a more open-minded "modern" world. Are those the ones supposed to run the future world? ...

like that lady and her daughter attempting to buy the small bowl... or pet-idiot (smart) 's practices on keeping bettas and the selling of those "less-than-a-quart" fish cups... horrible.

 

lucy , you did great..and I hope you feel you did..as frustrating as it is, at least you tried..its also the same here ...ppl ask for advice, and help, but when one tries to give it, they either ignore or do something different then wonder why their fishies are sick or dieing...we can't change the world, but we can help try to fix the wrongs sometimes ..great job in trying

 

I interrupted a conversation at Walmart, the lady wanted to know what kind of fish she could put in with a betta and the employee was giving nonsense advice. It turns out she wanted to stick another fish in a betta bowl with the betta. The sad thing is that it never occurred to her that it was wrong. Turns out the landlord of the retirement community charges a fee to have fish tanks and that is why she ended up with a betta in the first place. I tried to get her to even buy at least one of those 2.5 g self contained setups but she said that if it had a filter it was considered a tank and she would have to pay $300 to have it. So another betta left in a bowl, at least she said it was a gallon, and I talked her into buying a bottle of stress coat (small help) rather than another fish. This is what this betta bowl marketing does, even the people who do seem to have a heart get brainwashed into thinking this is ok.

 

Its college people on a ethic-science class !!!!!!! > I mean... who would think that young people who were "supposedly" raised on a more open-minded "modern" world. Are those the ones supposed to run the future world? ...

By the way, this concept is just horrifying. Not only people who have been raised in a more open-minded world, but people in an Ethics class. At least when I was taking my generals in college, the ethics courses were mostly filled with the folks who, in general, had the most ethical outlooks. If these are the kinds of people who are interested in ethics, I really wouldn't like to meet the people who don't care about ethics.

 

Ah, what a great thing for that woman to pass on to her child.. ignorance and animal abuse.

 

when my son was given his betta fury I didn't know anything about them. so I asked him if the person who gave it to him told him how to take care of him and what size tank he needed. turn out the person had 6 bettas all in the little bowls they sold him in. poor fury was in there for almost a year even though he gave them daily water changes. I thought it was cruel to not let him swim around.

 

I agree w/ the post that it might take one bettas life to save anothers, they might learn from the mistake, think back on the advice you gave them and see that yes the bettas need a bigger tank w/ the works.



I am hoping that one day that fish will be considered as important of a pet as cats/dogs to everyone, and for them to have proper living conditons be a conditon to buy.

I was never a big betta keeper until recentlly, in fact the first time I had ever seen a betta in a tank instead of a cup was when my mother was keeping them in those minibow sets, she still is. Then she went on to explain that she had read that that's how you are supose to keep them. I'm glad she got good advice... she passed it on to me first hand.

 

That is, unfortunately, pretty common for bettas waiting to be sold. Every Petco and PetSmart keeps dozens upon dozens of these little cups with bettas in them. A local store keeps the high-grade bettas (the ones that go for sixty, eighty, even a hundred dollars) in little cups. I can't imagine that they sell them all that quickly, with those kinds of prices and with online auctions providing customers with cheaper alternatives.

 

one small lfs here sells his bettas from rose bowls...still not good but better than the cups. He also takes good care of them ..he is not a chain he only sells fish no equipment or anything else.

 

When I was younger I thought that Bettas HAD to be in a small tiny bowl/cup. then last year I joined fishlore and I learned the truth......Thank You.

 

you know, on those animal cop shows, you never see any rescued fish. I think that combined with stupid (WALMART) practice of stuffing lots of fish into tiny spaces makes people think they are disposable. my family and I do our grocery shopping at walmart, and I can't help myself- I HAVE to go by the bettas. one day I saw a dead one that was covered in fungus to the point that it was almost unrecognizable. I found the store manager and demanded that his staff start treating their bettas better. for a few months afterward, I kept checking on the bettas and talking to the employees. this past week, I went by, and LO AND BEHOLD!!!! they had gotten rid of their tiny cups and dark alcove, and had replaced the cups with large bowls. not as good as a tank, but a definite improvement! they now have good lighting, and the bowls are always clean. the bettas look much happier now!!!!

 

The other day I was talking to the little brother of my uncle's girlfriend (he was here on vacations from guatemala) and he told me he used to keep a "very aggressive fish, blue colored with flowing large fins" in a 10 gal with 10 GOLDFISH!!!!!!! . He told me that the fish store owner never explained him anything about bettas, goldies, or anything... I gave him the whole bunch of info and he gladly learned and promised me to do the right thing!!! (and his dad too!). I feel so much better now that somewhere in central america a betta is getting a "betta life". ;D

 

That's great!