# Meijer bettas…animal cruelty!!!!



## MarcyAngela (Feb 20, 2014)

I have never and will never buy a fish from a chain like meijer or walmart. But I do shop there for other things, I've been there a few times in the past month or so and always go to the pet section to look at the betas and buy toys or accessories for my two dogs. I scanned every betta and 100% of them were not active, floating lifelessly at the bottom of their tiny bowls, on top of that… they all had yellow water with clearly tons of leftover food and feces at the bottom. I was grossed out. Right when I thought i couldn't get any worse, I saw that a few of the betas were clearly deceased. One of them was floating at the bottom, with fungus and bacteria growing from his body, it was so sick to me. Children walk past and look at those fish, some of them even purchase them and keep them in their tiny half gallon bowls… I mean, this is appalling to me as a betta lover. When I bought my Finn, he was in a 55+ gallon aquarium with other fish. (not betas). It's sad to me that stores like this carry these fish and I think we all need to speak up as betta lovers and express how we feel they should not carry betas, (and probably any other fish) in mega marts. Any ideas?!


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

That's terrible. There is a Meijer near me (I'm in MI too) that takes GREAT care of their fish. The bettas are almost always in super clean water, and they rotate them so ones that have been there a while get placed near the top.

However, there is another Meijer near my work that is a disgrace, just like you're describing. It's criminal.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

laws for fish is a tricky one, they are not subject to the same animal cruely laws as say a cage of puppies would be.

Your best bets lie in using social media and petitions- companies dont give a fig unless they are losing money. Snap a picture- date it and send it out into the world. even compile several and hand it to managment with a list of everything wrong with them and a grand total at the bottom of how much lost revenue those fish cost them by their store apathy.

You need to think like a store- they ignore angry customers but listen when they are forced to look at their bottom line


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

I agree with Taeanna 100%. American animal welfare laws do not protect fish, so there has to be a different course of action taken.


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## 16kehresmann (Feb 5, 2014)

Its so sad what people can do to fish..my heart goes out to all those poor fish who never know what it's like to be cared for and loved.  I agree with the two posts above me...businesses are more likely to respond to the fact their losing money than the welfare of a $3 fish..so sad but true.


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## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

The Walmart near my college is HORRIBLE with their fish. They usually only have up to 5 bettas at a time though, but even those have left over food and feces just sitting on the bottom of the cups. Their other fish tanks always have tons of dead fish floating in them. Last week we went and I was looking and found a bag of dead fish just sitting in the sink. It's awful. I agree with what they all said, however something else to do to immediately help at least some of the fish is to in fact buy a fish from them. I, personally, have decided that I will always try to get my bettas from Walmart just for the fact that they should all know what it's like to truly have a good home and be well cared for. You may not be able to save all of them, but at least some of them. I understand we don't all have the money to buy medication for the really bad cases but you can always try your best.


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## countyrd419 (Apr 6, 2013)

Is there any way that the IBC which is the International Betta Congress can lobby our government regarding fish laws? I know that some of you are members? As for Meijer which I have never heard of here in Florida; just post bad pictures on social media and this will hopefully get their attention or better yet send pictures to their corporate office wherever it maybe. I know Walmart's corporate headquarters are in Bentonville, Arkansas.


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## Valentino14 (Feb 12, 2014)

Lovee, while your heart is in the right place, the betta you buy will be replaced by another poor soul, and someone else with your awesome mindset will buy that one to save it from the misery. But then the store gets exactly what they want, which is profit. And they will keep supplying these bettas in these bad conditions because people are buying them.


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## smilingdoberman (Jan 27, 2014)

Valentino14 said:


> Lovee, while your heart is in the right place, the betta you buy will be replaced by another poor soul, and someone else with your awesome mindset will buy that one to save it from the misery. But then the store gets exactly what they want, which is profit. And they will keep supplying these bettas in these bad conditions because people are buying them.


 
I agree with that , we should *stop the fish abuse* and show the stores how they should really be keept, however Im like that too If i see a sick fish Ill try to buy it, luckily Im full so no fish shopping at the moment, however I think it really just that_ particular_ store because Ive been to many petsmarts(Im in CAN. so walmart doesnt sell fish & I dont have that other store) however petsmart sometimes takes really bad care of there fish, one close to me almost always has atleast 3 dead ones on there sheleves and others with fin rot/ amonia posioning and a whole list of other things, however the one a bit away from me takes _EXCELENT_ care of there fish, clean water always and healthy fish, so I think its just those employes at that store, I think your best bet is to _talk to the manager about the things you are seeing and explain how cruel and how there losing money by having fish so they should just not carry them_, altho thats just my opion , just thought like sharing, thanks for listening.


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## MarcyAngela (Feb 20, 2014)

smilingdoberman said:


> I agree with that , we should *stop the fish abuse* and show the stores how they should really be keept, however Im like that too If i see a sick fish Ill try to buy it, luckily Im full so no fish shopping at the moment, however I think it really just that_ particular_ store because Ive been to many petsmarts(Im in CAN. so walmart doesnt sell fish & I dont have that other store) however petsmart sometimes takes really bad care of there fish, one close to me almost always has atleast 3 dead ones on there sheleves and others with fin rot/ amonia posioning and a whole list of other things, however the one a bit away from me takes _EXCELENT_ care of there fish, clean water always and healthy fish, so I think its just those employes at that store, I think your best bet is to _talk to the manager about the things you are seeing and explain how cruel and how there losing money by having fish so they should just not carry them_, altho thats just my opion , just thought like sharing, thanks for listening.


Thanks to everyone for responding!!! Finally I found a community of people who care about bettas as much as I do. I wouldn't give a place with sick fish business, period. It's the wrong approach. I was at petco the other day in my local area, and all bettas had clean water were happy and healthy for the most part. It looked like they knew what was up. Meijer is a megastore, kind of like walmart, but with more grocery items and unfortunately a fish section. I don't think petco or petsmart is the enemy, (although they sure as hell can be), but its rather the walmarts and other stores that aren't PET stores, selling these fish. Its sad to see.


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## MarcyAngela (Feb 20, 2014)

lovee1795 said:


> The Walmart near my college is HORRIBLE with their fish. They usually only have up to 5 bettas at a time though, but even those have left over food and feces just sitting on the bottom of the cups. Their other fish tanks always have tons of dead fish floating in them. Last week we went and I was looking and found a bag of dead fish just sitting in the sink. It's awful. I agree with what they all said, however something else to do to immediately help at least some of the fish is to in fact buy a fish from them. I, personally, have decided that I will always try to get my bettas from Walmart just for the fact that they should all know what it's like to truly have a good home and be well cared for. You may not be able to save all of them, but at least some of them. I understand we don't all have the money to buy medication for the really bad cases but you can always try your best.


I don't think giving these places business is the right thing to do, although you try your hardest. Theres a local pet store by my house with just fish and I talked to one of the sales people about this problem and she was well aware of it and appalled (she's the owner of 10 bettas). She told me that she has STOLEN fish from meijer and rehabilitated them and even adopted some out but that she would never give them money for the fish because that encourages the practice.


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## countyrd419 (Apr 6, 2013)

The only way to stop Meijer from selling betta fishes is to shame them on social media and email your pictures to their corporate headquarters. What is Meijer compared too by the way? I don't think that state of Florida has a single Meijer at least not in the Orlando metro area. Is it a Midwest store only? Just have to search them on the internet.


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## preternaturalism (Nov 21, 2013)

Valentino14 said:


> Lovee, while your heart is in the right place, the betta you buy will be replaced by another poor soul, and someone else with your awesome mindset will buy that one to save it from the misery. But then the store gets exactly what they want, which is profit. And they will keep supplying these bettas in these bad conditions because people are buying them.


Except the profit from bettas themselves is minimal. The money's in the tanks and decor they sell to people who've just been hooked on an inexpensive "low-maintenance" fish. The betta's the hook, not the product. I'd argue that buying one on its own does little to no harm. Just don't buy things of tangible value there.


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## MarcyAngela (Feb 20, 2014)

preternaturalism said:


> Except the profit from bettas themselves is minimal. The money's in the tanks and decor they sell to people who've just been hooked on an inexpensive "low-maintenance" fish. The betta's the hook, not the product. I'd argue that buying one on its own does little to no harm. Just don't buy things of tangible value there.


That's still encouraging them that the product is worth in continuing to sell. In business it's the numbers that count… And last time I went to Meijer (3 days ago), more than half the bettas were DEAD.


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## Alyssum (Jan 26, 2014)

I bought my betta at Meijer. I do agree, most of the time the fish are not taken care of. However, I don't think simply just not buying fish will do much. Little kids and whoever else will still buy them, so education and making a scene (such as social media like someone suggested) of it is probably the best way to go about getting something done.


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## preternaturalism (Nov 21, 2013)

MarcyAngela said:


> That's still encouraging them that the product is worth in continuing to sell. In business it's the numbers that count… And last time I went to Meijer (3 days ago), more than half the bettas were DEAD.


Not buying the fish will make _no difference _to their profit. They don't care in the slightest whether you do or not. They care whether you buy a tank and gravel and food and little plastic tree.


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## Valentino14 (Feb 12, 2014)

If you organize a petition, i'm sure we will all sign it. And i'll forward it on to my entire college. I know others will do the same


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## lovee1795 (Jan 28, 2014)

preternaturalism said:


> Except the profit from bettas themselves is minimal. The money's in the tanks and decor they sell to people who've just been hooked on an inexpensive "low-maintenance" fish. The betta's the hook, not the product. I'd argue that buying one on its own does little to no harm. Just don't buy things of tangible value there.


I'd have to agree with everyone on this one. I mean, these are huge mega stores. Their major profit doesn't come from any fish anything. It's in everything else. They probably don't even bother to look at the numbers from fish sales. I don't buy any type of supplies from Walmart because they have crappy stuff anyway.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

The buzzwords are addons and package deals- that is why you see set ups with 'free male betta included' on the sign.

This however can be a better draw for a business- if they can convince people to get the BIGGER tank and the NICER decorations for that fish they get more money- but to do that the fish has to be pretty darn special. In this regard sometimes an aquarium is better because the men working it are on comission- they want to sell you that big tank just because it means profit for them and the store.

The problem is that retailers like walmart cater to people who want to spend as little as possible. Creating a package kit that the fish can live in happily even from cobbling together things in the store (for instance a cheap but pretty 3 gallon vase instead of the betta gallon tub) still goes over the 20 to 30 dollar price range of their target audience.


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## Valentino14 (Feb 12, 2014)

preternaturalism said:


> Except the profit from bettas themselves is minimal. The money's in the tanks and decor they sell to people who've just been hooked on an inexpensive "low-maintenance" fish. The betta's the hook, not the product. I'd argue that buying one on its own does little to no harm. Just don't buy things of tangible value there.


 I agree with you there. But then we should also look at the procucts that they sell for the bettas as the "ideal home"... everyone knows those kits are almost always terrible for the fish


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## 2muttz (Aug 16, 2013)

preternaturalism said:


> Except the profit from bettas themselves is minimal. The money's in the tanks and decor they sell to people who've just been hooked on an inexpensive "low-maintenance" fish. The betta's the hook, not the product. I'd argue that buying one on its own does little to no harm. Just don't buy things of tangible value there.


Agree 100% with this. Stores like Walmart /Mejier use their bettas as an enticement, little more than a sales ad for fish supplies. Also, the mere presence of live animals is a "draw" to get people into the pet dept., and once your in a dept.~ well, you just might buy something.... This is why they don't really care if the fish live to be bought or die, either way they are just replaced with fresh "ads"... Since the public outcry if they kept something more _"touchy ~ feely_" than fish (like puppies, kittens, even hamsters) in such horrible conditions would be hellish, this is what they do. 

If you buy just one sad little fish and none of it's "hardware" (tanks, food, etc...) you are actually defeating their purpose, imho.

I really think that the only thing that will stop these chains from stocking bettas and not caring for them are huge, far- reaching PR campaigns. They HATE bad PR - that's what might *really *cost them money. And social media is a good place to start...


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

Hello Bettafish Lovers!! I need to clarify a few things... While we do all agree with your sentiments regarding the "big box" stores and their sometimes deplorable fish care, we must request that you NOT use our forum to "shame" or call out any of these stores. At NO time can Tropicalfishkeeping.com or Bettafish.com 's names be used in anyway. We also MUST state that no conversations will be allowed regarding fish being stolen. 

I DO personally also agree that it is very SAD to see them in such deplorable conditions and the BEST thing you can do is DEMAND better care be put in place by the staff. Speak to the Manager in a calm mature manner. I do not buy from a store with dead fish in ANY tank. They may have just arrived and it is a sign that things are not at all well. It is ALWAYS good practice to ask the store how long has the fish you are choosing been at the store. If they don't look healthy and happy you are potentially purchasing a whole bunch of heartache with that fish and just encouraging bad practices to continue! If they can't sell the fish, they will stop bringing them in.


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## MarcyAngela (Feb 20, 2014)

countyrd419 said:


> The only way to stop Meijer from selling betta fishes is to shame them on social media and email your pictures to their corporate headquarters. What is Meijer compared too by the way? I don't think that state of Florida has a single Meijer at least not in the Orlando metro area. Is it a Midwest store only? Just have to search them on the internet.


Meijer is kind a big store, with groceries and just about EVERYTHING you can think of, seriously. It's a midwest only type of thing, their very popular in Michigan (very I live). I visit them frequently for cheap movies and dog toys.


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## MarcyAngela (Feb 20, 2014)

SeaHorse said:


> Hello Bettafish Lovers!! I need to clarify a few things... While we do all agree with your sentiments regarding the "big box" stores and their sometimes deplorable fish care, we must request that you NOT use our forum to "shame" or call out any of these stores. At NO time can Tropicalfishkeeping.com or Bettafish.com 's names be used in anyway. We also MUST state that no conversations will be allowed regarding fish being stolen.
> 
> I DO personally also agree that it is very SAD to see them in such deplorable conditions and the BEST thing you can do is DEMAND better care be put in place by the staff. Speak to the Manager in a calm mature manner. I do not buy from a store with dead fish in ANY tank. They may have just arrived and it is a sign that things are not at all well. It is ALWAYS good practice to ask the store how long has the fish you are choosing been at the store. If they don't look healthy and happy you are potentially purchasing a whole bunch of heartache with that fish and just encouraging bad practices to continue! If they can't sell the fish, they will stop bringing them in.


Hello, I didn't mean to in any way shame the store, I just found it really appalling to see that especially since I try so hard to give my betta everything and more that he needs. I've always been sensitive towards any animal cruelty and was simply asking anyone if they knew what to do, or if anything at all could be done in a situation like that. As for the stealing, I have not stolen any fish and don't plan on it, it was merely a story I heard from a worker at the local fish store I visit which takes care of their bettas and all other fish very well, and I have never seen a dead fish in their store. I shared with her what I saw at meijer and she told me that she has stolen a few nearly dead fish and tried to rehabilitate them, I personally would never steal from a store, it's not worth it to me and I frown down upon stealing, from anyone. It was not at all an encouragement to others to try to do that. So I'm sorry if it came off that way. I was also unaware that I wasn't able to say the chain brand in a post. 

As for the speaking to the manager, this store conveniently has phones in each section where you can call and speak to a person specified to each department. I told them the situation and the woman who picked up the phone was just very short with me and basically told me they'd have someone take the dead ones off display.


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

No Problem!! Just a gentle reminder to everyone because often these thread turn either to stories of all our friends who do "this and that"... or... we all end up calling out our Local Fish Store on their bad fish practices. Thought I would just post a caution before it gets too far. 
We're here to share and I know you are all very passionate about your fin babies. :fish:


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