# Why did you do it Wal-mart?, why??!!!



## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

While visting my grandma, my aunt sent in to Wal-mart to pickup some replacement filters. So I went in thinking, ''Good I can pickup some aquasafe while I'm here, but little did I know what lay ahead. It wasn't hard finding what I needed and I was on my way out when a loud women bought to my attention that they had BETTAS!!:evil: 

I don't understand why Wal-mart wants to sell fish. There right infront was a DIED betta!!:-( I felt bad for all of them and started to look through them. I wasn't going to buy one until, a old man who worked there came down the ale and started talking to me. He said that he only fed them TWO days a WEEK and that he gave them a bath the day before.:shock: HOW DO YOU DO THAT???!!! Saturday was one of his feeding days and lucky me it was today. He fed the betta I was holding first and asked me to helpout. After he fed them he just plobbed them on the self.

After seeing this and that the pellets they fed them were too big for most to eat, I HAD to save one. I went with the one in my hand, a deep red-orange VT with a dark brown head. One man at Wal-mart didn't even know that they sold fish and HE WORKED THERE. Since I wasn't home he had to stay in his cup until I left on Sunday. I did change his water and at one point he was in the sink and liked it alot. I also tried feeding him, but he didn't eat.

Once I got him home and into his temp 1gal bowl, he was very happy. Today, while giving Remix a water change I put them next to eachother and they had a flaring contest. Boy is he a hot head!:roll: Even when I pulled them apart he still was swiming around with his fins out acting tough. I couldn't think of a name for him and I was thinking of Flame because of his color and attitude, but While watching him and Remix flaring I noticed that he had a black beard and Remix's was red. That made me think of blackbeard the pirate. After that the name stuck. Now he's happily swiming in Rob's old kritter keeper.


----------



## chelsmarie23 (Jan 3, 2011)

I'm glad you saved one. It always breaks my heart when I go to Walmart and see the bettas. I wish I could take them all home, but I can't.  I bet he is real happy that you took him home though.


----------



## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

I know, there was soo many that I wanted to take home. I would've bought two If I had more cash.


----------



## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

You can't save them all as much as you want to .... But if you can give one a home, it seems better than nothing. 

I know exactly how you feel! Good luck with your new boy


----------



## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

Thanks!


----------



## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

keep a close eye on them. at any little issue, write an e-mail complaining. they'll stop ordering them eventually.. i'm glad you saved one. <3


----------



## bettamaniac (Jan 6, 2011)

Its too bad that my walmart gets some really beautiful veiltails but at my walmart the cups are filled a little less than half way but most of them arent dirty


----------



## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Why do you think I have so many? Everytime I have gone to walmart the past couple of weeks I have brought at least 1 home with me. It is totally ridiculous how the bettas are treated there. It is just as bad at the Petsmarts in our area. I have some from there too. 

Yesterday on my lunch break I went to a Walmart by where I work just to check out their fish section since I haven't ever done that before. (I work far from where I live) Horrible. The fish in tanks have no lights. I don't know if they don't work or what. The bettas are on a couple of shelves all stacked on top of each other midway down the fish aisle. I almost didn't see them. There was of course 1 dead which I took over and put in the sink and I bought 2 semi decent looking crowntails. They both have some fin issues but seem like they might be easily remediated. One is on my desk at work with a heating pad in a 1 gallon until I can get a heater here and the other is at home. Poor babies!! I would buy them all if I could. If only the males could coexist. I would have a 55 gallon with a bunch of them in it. That would be so cool...


----------



## Canuck Fins (Oct 5, 2010)

That's crazy!

Walmart here does not carry fish anymore, not in the older stores or the new supercentres.


----------



## Tsuhei (Nov 26, 2010)

I hate walmart so much... I'm actually tempted to bring food pellets with me and feed the bettas each time I visit <.<; Maybe carry a little bottle of water conditioner so I can do some much-needed water changes..? xD It's so tempting, but all it would probably do is make the employees look good to their manager. -_- lose/lose situations suck.


----------



## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

jayy we need pictures of blackbeard good job saving him.


----------



## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

iheartmybettas said:


> Why do you think I have so many? Everytime I have gone to walmart the past couple of weeks I have brought at least 1 home with me. It is totally ridiculous how the bettas are treated there. It is just as bad at the Petsmarts in our area. I have some from there too.
> 
> Yesterday on my lunch break I went to a Walmart by where I work just to check out their fish section since I haven't ever done that before. (I work far from where I live) Horrible. The fish in tanks have no lights. I don't know if they don't work or what. The bettas are on a couple of shelves all stacked on top of each other midway down the fish aisle. I almost didn't see them. There was of course 1 dead which I took over and put in the sink and I bought 2 semi decent looking crowntails. They both have some fin issues but seem like they might be easily remediated. One is on my desk at work with a heating pad in a 1 gallon until I can get a heater here and the other is at home. Poor babies!! I would buy them all if I could. If only the males could coexist. I would have a 55 gallon with a bunch of them in it. That would be so cool...


 The one I went to didn't have other fish just bettas, but I'm sure they would be treated the same. A divided 55gal would be cool!!;-):thumbsup:


----------



## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

Thank you, but I don't have a camrea or phone.


----------



## Chutney (Aug 27, 2013)

I got my Bandit at Walmart for 3 dollars. I was surprised by the price but happy that I could save him without killing my wallet  he is a pretty halfmoon double tail with a purple body and fins with yellow on his back fins, bottom fins and a tinsy bit on his top fins.


----------



## kjnewcome (Jul 25, 2013)

This was what I found at my Wal Mart Monday. I was so upset. They had this display and another 20-25 bettas on the shelve next to the fish supplies. They are marketing them to the college kids. The other 3 sides of the display were full of little tiny less than 1/2g bowls.


----------



## Torla (Aug 15, 2013)

I loathe Wal-Mart with the passion of a thousand suns. I had to go there a couple weeks ago to get a cheap bucket for water changes -- the PetSmart next door had one, but it was $15. :shock: NO, thanks. 

I swung by the fish section and was just crushed. Dirty tanks, a plethora of dead fish, and bettas in awful, discolored water. I'm not talking about the blue kind that stores have to sedate the fish. I'm talking nasty brown water. I wanted to save at least one, but I had just gotten Romeo and had no accommodations for another. So sad.


----------



## PeetaTheBetta (Apr 6, 2013)

My walmart is just the same...dying fish, poor water quality, ect. It is so sad


----------



## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

OMG! My walmart only has 5 or 6 at a time, this is just horrible!


----------



## ashleylyn (Mar 30, 2013)

Guys.. we should start a betta shelter. Like what they do for dogs and cats. On a huge scale.  hahaha

If I had the money, I'd rescue any animal in need!


----------



## kjnewcome (Jul 25, 2013)

registereduser said:


> OMG! My walmart only has 5 or 6 at a time, this is just horrible!


Our Wal Mart usually has just a handful but all the college students are back and I guess they think bettas would make great dorm fish. Sad that most will go to kids who don't care (or don't know any better) and who keep them in tiny dirty bowls.


----------



## kjnewcome (Jul 25, 2013)

ashleylyn said:


> Guys.. we should start a betta shelter. Like what they do for dogs and cats. On a huge scale.  hahaha
> 
> If I had the money, I'd rescue any animal in need!


My husband said I'm already on my way. When we stop at the store together I'm not allowed to even look at the bettas because he knows I'll want to bring another one home. Silly man seems to think 16 is enough.


----------



## AnimalLov3 (Aug 26, 2013)

Tsuhei said:


> I hate walmart so much... I'm actually tempted to bring food pellets with me and feed the bettas each time I visit <.<; Maybe carry a little bottle of water conditioner so I can do some much-needed water changes..? xD It's so tempting, but all it would probably do is make the employees look good to their manager. -_- lose/lose situations suck.


I was thinking this same exact thing. V-V Poor babies..


----------



## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

I am not allowed to have more bettas then i already have(10). But it painful for me to see them in the stores, i just can't go there, makes me sick. So when i see people breeding them i want to scrim ''NO NO...
About Wal-mart try to complain to the corporate i think that is how you call the main offoce? 

2 years ago i went to the local wal mart store and just was stunned . I literally couldn't move, crying in the middle of the store It was like 9 bettas left in the water that you can 't even see them. Of course 7 of them where dying and 2 sadly and surprisingly flare at each other. I did rescued two of them. 
I didn't know what to do but i decide to complain to the manager and she was very understandable. She even said they don't even have all equipment to do the right care. She gave me phone number where to file my complain .
I called the main office and i pretend that the reason that i called is basically that a lot of people thinking that it cruel and all my neighborhood that have a lot of childer will not come any longer because they don't want to bring their children to the store to see animals cruelty. And believe it or not they call me back, or course apologizing ,and i told them that they need to do water changes in order fish live and don't scare people away. 
I have no idea what happened but this is the only store that for 2 years don't carry bettas. Not sure if it because me or who knows.
But if you guys love bettas try to complain and write. I think i wrote them a letter too. 
It hurts to see that picture betta cups on tap of each other. I saw that in the petsmart one time. And i went to the fish guy and ask him who could do it, next time to make sure the person who put bettas on the shelves know that they need air. 
Sad bettas lives , such a beautiful fish


----------



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

As far as I know, the Wal-Marts in southern Ontario can't sell them. Pretty sure it's against animal cruelty laws here. When I was little, I used to go to my local Wal-Mart and break down crying because "the fishies felt bad", as my mother quoted me, proceeding by rolling her eyes and saying that even then she knew one day I would want a fish. Something must've happened though, because I haven't seen a Wal-Mart that sells any fish since I was six years old! But honestly, those conditions are HORRENDOUS. I wish these places would let me have some kind of unlimited budget and redo their entire sections on fish >.>


----------



## KeshiaB (Aug 27, 2013)

What terrible stories, I'm glad I haven't come across anything like this in Australia, although we do have a pretty horrible online store that courier fish to your door, they usually arrive dead. I refuse to support such a company.

I know it sounds terrible but surely if people stop buying Bettas from Walmart then they will stop selling them? I know it's hard to think of all the fish currently in there, and in an ideal world they would not need to be sacrificed... I'd love to go into a store like Walmart with a bunch of people and just take all the fish in the store, get enough people together and there wouldn't be much Walmart could do to stop you!

Let's hope they get a clue and either stop selling Bettas or start treating them right!


----------



## Francesca7 (Aug 26, 2013)

KeshiaB I absolutely agree with you! The only way it's going to stop is if people stop buying them. Walmart aren't going to care if you buy them out of pity, or if they're going to a good home or not, they're just trying to make a profit at the end of the day.

You'd never see fish of any kind is such poor conditions here in the UK and believe me, as a nation of animal lovers you'd soon see an uproar if they were! Who knows, it might be going on somewhere but certainly not in big chain stores. Our big branch here is Pets At Home and all Bettas are in tanks at least 5 or 6+ gallons with heaters, filters and correct water conditions.


----------



## Darth (Nov 19, 2012)

Trust me you are not saving anything they will just replace the fish you took with more and the cycle will be infinite.
I keep all my bettas in quart jars as do many breeders there water is cleaned often and they eat good food.
Those containers could stand to be larger and I have told them countless times to at least put them on a heat mat...or even point an electric heater in the direction of the fish....all to no avail.
Some of the small pockets where wild bettas live are not very big at all, in fact mahachainesis spawn on hollow palm trunks you can barley fit you hand into.


----------



## Canis (Apr 15, 2013)

I work at a Walmart... One of these days I'm going to ask if I can change to the pet department, which no one has worked in officially for years. I definitely know more about fish than anyone else in the store, as well as a wide variety of other animals. They'd definitely notice a drop in sales on tiny bowls and bad quality items. But it would up the stores reputation. The fish are absolutely horrible there, and they don't even bother to scrub the algae off of the bigger tanks. Dead fish are left to rot for days, and I'm pretty sure the tanks never get a proper water change. They only change the water in the cups every two weeks, when they get a new shipment of fish in. They rarely get fed, and when they do someone just throws flakes on top of the lid, so the fish probably don't get the chance to eat it anyway. I picked up two girls there once, because they had been there for two months (don't know how they lived that long, and especially without getting sick). The ammonia in their cups tested over the range of my API kit. When I found that out I almost started crying. I wish walmart just STOPPED selling fish. Sadly though, they get some of their money back for each fish that dies or gets returned, so it wouldn't really matter if you stopped buying them or not. Anyone who doesn't know about proper care of bettas (or any fish) is going to keep buying them anyway.


----------



## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

It was like that for long time and i think it will continue to be like that, which is heart braking for people who care. But the problem that is people who breed them don't care . All they want just sell and continue to breed and sell...cercle....so it will continue. Don't want to get breeders offended , i am talking in general. I understand that some breeders care about their babies.


----------



## Darth (Nov 19, 2012)

A quart jar is plenty of room for a betta sure they are better off in a lrager conatainer but a lot of us breeders use Beanies also they hold almost 2 quarts of water.


----------



## ANHEL123 (Jul 21, 2010)

Oh not it not about space. If you guys doing water changes then it not the problem at all. It understandable you have so many bettas.... The problem is that the breeders (some of them , not all of them ) i guess do not care what happened to their bettas if they give it to the Walmart. Not sure how it works but i guess that every breeder understand the fate of each betta when they give them to the stores? And continue to breed?


----------

