# Novermber 23, 2012: a time to act against Wal-Mart



## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

wal-mart has abused and killed too many bettas to count, and has repeatedly ignored those of us who speak out against the slaughter. they do not care about our words, they care only about money. this year, we will change that. on Black Friday, we need to get everyone we know who is sympathetic to the cause to show up, carry signs, pass out literature, and let the customers whose money the company values so much know just what their money is doing. tell your friends, spread the word on facebook, do whatever it takes to bring in a crowd at your city or town's wal-mart, because if we can make even a small dent in their profits on their most valuable day of retail sales for the entire year, THEN they may have to listen.

some basic guidelines from a veteran protestor:

1) KEEP YOUR DISTANCE. every location has different laws regarding assembly and "loitering", look yours up and make sure you're legally safe. this action will do no good if our people are arrested before the first customer shows up.

2) BE PREPARED. it will be the end of November, and most places will be fairly chilly. dress warmly, carry a thermos of hot soup, and leave young children with a trusted sitter or guardian. we all want to help, but frostbite and hypothermia are no laughing matter.

3) BE DIRECT. if you carry a sign or sing a chant, keep it simple and easy to remember. a few big, bold words will do a lot more good than a dictionary page on a picket pole.

4) BE RESPECTFUL. to anyone, and everyone. no matter who they are, keep a positive demeanor. even the Big Blue's employees are not necessarily the "enemy." i know from personal experience that many of them are just as disgusted by the company, but are forced to work there to support their families. a strong message and a smile will get you a lot further than a strong message alone.

5) CARRY LITERATURE. whether it's pamphlets about proper betta care, hand-made flyers giving more detailed descriptions of wal-mart's abuse, or simply a card with a URL to get more information, it's all helpful. getting people angry is just the first step, the next step is to get them _informed.
_
beyond this, just use common sense. we're trying to end an injustice, not wind up in a jail cell. i know some of you are willing to go that far to help even one betta, but your fellow betta lovers might not be, and police are very quick to assign "guilt by association" at protest actions. we want to come out, spread the word, and make a few people think. let's show wal-mart that we mean business, and when we mean business, they LOSE business!


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

Um I shall post this on My FB if anything but I myself won;t do this I don;t have the guts.


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

Goldie2nd said:


> Um I shall post this on My FB if anything but I myself won;t do this I don;t have the guts.


that's okay, i used to be skittish about protesting myself. getting the word out is still greatly appreciated.


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

Just saved it will post it tomorow. Hopefully it will help somehow.


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## Nutt007 (Sep 22, 2009)

Protesting in front of Walmart seems pathetic imo. As much as I hate their fish care, to other shoppers we'll look like a bunch of crazy PETA people. I will contribute however by possibly dropping care sheets at the betta section.


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

Yeah I agree me in just spreading the wrd f=of not buy fish there period nothing else with people i know that's it.


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## Nutt007 (Sep 22, 2009)

Yeah I think I will write up a care sheet tonight with basic info and some links including BettaTalk and this site. Thoughts?


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

Yeah why not seems ok


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## Junglist (Feb 23, 2012)

I like this protest but don't get me wrong but representing this website or other sites for this protest is not a great idea cause it will lead the administrator for this site and other sites of getting sued 

Remember freedom of speech is only for the spoken word, electronic media is not covered!

Google the Petswharehouse case and read it.


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

Junglist said:


> I like this protest but don't get me wrong but representing this website or other sites for this protest is not a great idea cause it will lead the administrator for this site and other sites of getting sued
> 
> Remember freedom of speech is only for the spoken word, electronic media is not covered!
> 
> Google the Petswharehouse case and read it.


It's actually against bettafish.com's rules. The mods will be here soon to back me up on this.

On Black Friday all people care about is the almighty deal. They won't give a flying crap about bettas. I think this is a bad idea and possibly dangerous. People are CRAZY on Black Friday!


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## Junglist (Feb 23, 2012)

It's actually REALLY dangerous especially on Black Friday


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

registereduser said:


> It's actually against bettafish.com's rules. The mods will be here soon to back me up on this.
> 
> On Black Friday all people care about is the almighty deal. They won't give a flying crap about bettas. I think this is a bad idea and possibly dangerous. People are CRAZY on Black Friday!


Registereduser, you are correct. It is against the forum rules to post our web address on caresheets, notes or whatever because it can cause legal problems for us.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Please don't get our forum into trouble, that's the last thing we all need now. It's fine discussing this here, however just keep bettafish.com and tropicalfishkeeping.com's names out of this matter. If a store thinks this website is the cause of any illegal actions during a protest we could get in trouble. We had a notice posted about this a few weeks back.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Those of you who want to protest on behalf of cruelty to bettas, I know you mean well but what good is it going to do to protest when in all honesty, most people don't really give a care?


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## SnowySurface (Apr 25, 2011)

I agree that the idea is good but the day choosen for it is very bad. I've been Black Friday shopping and the people in the stores when the doors open at 5 AM are not thinking about fish. -_-

It would be better to protest, legally and respectfully, on a day when people are more receptive to your signs and chants.


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

yeah true true me not doing it but I hope to inform people that I know not to buy Bettas or any fish from Walmart again


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## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

Also, the users on here are kinda spread out... I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be the only one protesting... I do like the caresheets though. I think everyone who wants to participate should put caresheets with maybe a link to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/343/1...tta-fish/#sign , a petition started by jenjen182. (do you think that's ok?) Pretty much anything that would attract attention to the plight of bettas & other fish due to that store. Actually, it might be good to include petsmart & petco & any bad lfs in the caresheet-dropoff too.


Agree with SnowySurface, we should choose a different day... maybe the day after Christmas? Everyone is always coming to return items, so we'll have a large audience. Imagine if people from around the world did this on a mass scale on the same day! People would be bound to listen!


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

Yeah true. But still you would need more than one people to help you do this. I might go for it later on though once I start school i'll give and outs to students and things like that.  is something and add don;t buy from Walmart!


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## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

You wouldn't really need anyone else- If each of us printed up 25 sheets of paper with 4 handouts apeice, then put stacks of them all over Walmart, Petco, & Petsmart (if you have problems with them in your location. I know some of them are pretty good, and others don't even carry fish) We would cover a wide area. If more than one member lived in the area, then that just means twice or three times as many handouts.

We could spread this on other forums too... & make a facebook page... This is a great idea, Terror. Why haven't we banded together sooner?

Oh. I just thought of something. We need to have the same basic info on our caresheets though. I mean, what if one said minimum 1 gallon, & another said minimum 2.5 gallons, & another said 5 gallons? We need to come up with the basics. Put up a united front, you know.  What do you guys think?


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I do not think this is smart to do nor would it be effective.

Here is a list of things that I can imagine going wrong:

1. *Black Friday can be dangerous if not deadly*. It is a day when the rich and poor alike are willing to flood into stores and fight each other in order to save as much money as possible on holiday gifts. Stores hype the day up with deals, which lead to many camping outside the store. These people will be grumpy, maybe even hostile, if something disrupts their plans. Blocking people on Black Friday from entering Walmart, one of the largest retailers, is thus dangerous for the shoppers and the protesters.

2. *It won't be effective.* As stated above, people are concerned only of sales. They do not want to be hundered or bothered. Most people go into Walmart knowing what sales to hunt for and how to get there the quickest. A protest outside the store, on a day when most people will not think of others let alone animals, will merely be protesting to deaf ears. In addition, this would not happen at just one Walmart. It may just be a few users and supporters at a handful of Walmarts, not being heard and wasting their time and safety.

3. *It can be potentially illegal.* Hindering shoppers on Black Friday or taking up unnecessary space in front of the store during such high congestion may be illegal if not against fire codes. Safety is nothing to risk and on a holiday where people have literally trampled others to death and then blamed Walmart for not doing enough and causing the hype, it would more than likely be addressed by security and make security's life harder on a day already so stressful.

Educating people is the best way to go to initiate change. Write corporate headquarters. Create a petition on change.org. Talk to local stores' managers for change. There are many more safer, effective, ways to alter the way Walmart deals with its live animals. I do not believe a store such as Walmart should sell living creatures but I do believe in doing positive, effective, action rather than drawing negative attention to a concern.


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

Mademyself a Facebook Betta Fish Awereness Day fallower


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

Sivan said:


> I do not think this is smart to do nor would it be effective.
> 
> Here is a list of things that I can imagine going wrong:
> 
> ...


:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## rosy delta (Jul 17, 2012)

on a different note, I have to compliment Junglist on the absolutely beautiful fish on aquabid!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I don't know about other petstores but Petsmart has it's own caresheet.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

protesting wont do much... but positive wducationfor those who'll listen might :O


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## Junglist (Feb 23, 2012)

rosy delta said:


> on a different note, I have to compliment Junglist on the absolutely beautiful fish on aquabid!


Thank you! I will be posting more fish soon once I get my SLR back from the shop but for now I have some 15g Atison Betta Pro up listed if anyone is looking for some.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

I'm going to be the contrary one and devil's avocado all at once and say I think this is a great idea. 

The OP made no reference to representing this website anywhere, and also made it quite clear that hindering doorways, etc, is illegal, and so on. I think they have acted quite responsibly, really, in the way they've put this across.

I think it's a good day to get attention for the plight of the betta. The OP was not suggesting outrageous or aggressive behaviour - if you actually read the post, they are stating the exact opposite!

I too am a veteran protester, and in the past have actually chained myself to things (back in the days when we had more civil liberties/guts/a voice) including trees and a train station to try to get people to become more aware of wrongness occurring in their community. I've also done peaceful sit-ins, park gatherings and flag burnings (I am not recommending anyone do that, ofc - just things I did in my wild youth..).

In my experience, protest does make a difference - but only if it's respectful and peaceful.

That's why PETA are pooh-poohed as raving loonies (aside from the fact that a good number of them actually _are_ raving loonies in an organisation that kills animals to make its point, yeesh) - those guys go for shock/anger as a platform that gets people offside from the get-go.

Anyhow, I don't see anything irresponsible or disrespectful going on here at all. I hope those who do have the courage to protest peacefully at Walmart have a great and very positive day and come home with a smile.


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

Aus said:


> Anyhow, I don't see anything irresponsible or disrespectful going on here at all. I hope those who do have the courage to protest peacefully at Walmart have a great and very positive day and come home with a smile.


Are you familiar with "Black Friday"?


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## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

Lol. Previous posters were right- we are not going to get ANY attention on Black Friday.


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## SnowySurface (Apr 25, 2011)

I agree with so many people who don't agree with each other. lol

Sivan is right. People do not care about each other during Black Friday. People will go through you to get into the store so they can get to the deals first since everything is limited quantities. The choice of day does make this idea for a protest extremely dangerous and ineffective. The majority of people who are there are on the verge of foaming at the mouth over deals and do not care about humans much less fish. It would not surprise me if security had a protestor arrested for the sake of the protestor's safety. 

Aus is also right. The original idea did not involve naming names. It did not involve promoting this forum or any other website/forum on signs. If you go back and look at the very first post, homegrown terror’s outline on how to do this safely is accurate. But based on many of the replies, some commenter’s are putting their own ideas into the mix and forgetting that homegrown’s tips are safety guidelines. It is possible to protest on Black Friday and go home alive with a smile on your face, but you have to keep all 5 of homegrown’s tips in your mind while you are there. In fact I would like to add another tip. 

6) BE AWARE of the CROWD’S MOOD: If you can not sense when something is about to go down, do not go. If you do go to a Walmart near you anyway, bring a friend who can tell when you’ve “out lived your welcome” so you know when to leave. If no one is receptive and you just can’t get your voice herd, then go home. The first step about a protest is to get people mad. But you want to get people mad at the same thing you are mad at. You don’t want to get the people mad at you. XD 

I suggested picking a different day because it's impossible for us all to be together at the same Walmart at the same time during such a busy holiday. It's great that this can be organized online, but there can be no organization at each ground zero. It does not seem like a lot of people responding to this thread have Aus's level of experience and this idea could end badly for beginner protestors left to their own wits. Since the collection of people at Walmart on Black Friday are so varied that approaching any of them is like rolling a pair of die and hoping you don't get snake eyes, stay home on Black Friday unless you can read people like a book and have a good sense of your environment’s atmosphere. Every protestor has to start somewhere, but Black Friday isn’t the best spring board into activism, imo. 

I repeat (again XD). This idea is not good for beginners because it is dangerous like Savin said. This idea is good for seasoned protestors because it is possible to do safely if you know what you are doing like Aus. Do not make this idea your first protest since you may be alone at your Walmart. I'm not touching this idea with a ten-foot pole, and this would be my fifth protest if I participated (I tended to be behind the scenes in my "wild" days. lol). As an organizer I would never pick Black Friday for a day to protest as individuals at separate Walmart for anyone other than EXTREMELY experienced protestors. A group would be a different story. But not solo. 

My first response to this thread was so short because I didn’t feel like writing a novel. But I decided to post my full opinion on the date chosen for this protest so no one gets hurt. Call me a pessimist if you want, but you can't call me dead. -_-


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

Well I would not protest but I like the plamphelt Idea to pass out to friends and maybe portest softly on Facebook. Just like don;t buy fish from walmart they are mstly dead. stuff like that and eductae people is the best way really. But noo Black friday is horrible. and protesting alone is wrots on any day.


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## bettasusa (Nov 1, 2011)

protesting is simple, just STOP BUYING them, or "RESCUING" them from these stores. Eventually they will get the hint. Its just to sad to see that no so many people on here complain about the bettas being mistreated but we are the one's who help fuel the fire by bringing one home from chain stores like petco, petsmart, walmart. When you Rescue one, all your doing is emptying that container and its getting filled up again next shipment, and possibly even more being brought to the stores because of "possible" sales. All I have to say about that Putting the forum in the direct line of attack is indeed no way to go and Black Friday? Who is going to care about Bettas on Black Friday? People only worried about TVs, Electronics and Super "Sale" items.


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## bettasusa (Nov 1, 2011)

To add, support your forum members and local and even international breeders who offer quality bettas from time to time as a way to help from buying bettas from chain stores. I know it can be hard from buying supplies and food, especially frozen foods but its worth a shot.


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## Goldie2nd (Apr 16, 2012)

good go Bettausa


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

bettasusa said:


> protesting is simple, just STOP BUYING them, or "RESCUING" them from these stores. Eventually they will get the hint. Its just to sad to see that no so many people on here complain about the bettas being mistreated but we are the one's who help fuel the fire by bringing one home from chain stores like petco, petsmart, walmart. When you Rescue one, all your doing is emptying that container and its getting filled up again next shipment, and possibly even more being brought to the stores because of "possible" sales. All I have to say about that Putting the forum in the direct line of attack is indeed no way to go and Black Friday? Who is going to care about Bettas on Black Friday? People only worried about TVs, Electronics and Super "Sale" items.


+++1

Also try getting into schools and educating the youth coming up. That's what animal shelters do. Parents won't teach responsibility so the kids need to learn it from others. We have almost daily proof of that on this forum.


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## bettasusa (Nov 1, 2011)

Its honestly the hardest thing to do, (to not continue the inhumane selling of bettas for instance), and I'll be the first to admit to you. I've gone into the store and would ONLY LOOKING for something for my dog and next thing you know, Im right there, where I don't want to be, knowing I shouldn't be. In front of tiny glass bowls where anywhere from 10-50 and sometimes even more! bettas are being held captive in an AIR CONDITIONED environment, and without hesitation ask one of the salespersons, "Please bag this guy, this guy, this guy, and this young lady up for me"....Then they go..."You know...." I say "I already know", with a Don't pi** me off look right now because I already am, and thats the end of it....but its not. They ring them up and I'm out the store wondering, why the heck did I do that? Thankfully the last one I purchased, which ended up getting me back into the hobby was pumpkin and since then I have been supporting US and International breeders, and working on my own lines myself. But I can totally agree, that Its so simple to just be able to walk in the store and get a betta for 3.99, end up finding a forum like this where people actually know what their talking about, and then begin to rant and rave about how bettas are kept at stores. Theres really only one way out and thats to not buy them period.

When we "rescue" a betta from the chain store we might as well ask the salesperson an exact details about when their shipments of live fish arrive so that we can come back to rescue another one at least once a week, because after all, they purchased that betta for maybe 0.75 cents at most, you purchased it for 4.99 plus tax, thus you paid for the 2 or 3 that died right next to it and also paid for the next 2 that will be arriving next week to replace them.


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## bettasusa (Nov 1, 2011)

registereduser said:


> +++1
> 
> Also try getting into schools and educating the youth coming up. That's what animal shelters do. Parents won't teach responsibility so the kids need to learn it from others. We have almost daily proof of that on this forum.



++1, Parents go into pet stores because their kids want to go in alot of times. At least this was my experience when I was a little boy. We would go to walmart and my grandmother would totally try to avoid the fish section. I GRAVITATED to it. Next thing you know, Grandpa threw in a 30 Gallon complete setup in the cart while I had the salesperson frantically catching an assortment of goldfish to fill it up once we get home. Grandma, her hands over her fore-head, wondering what the heck did he do! Fish would have died by the next week and her, not grandpa would be buying me more fish for the tank next time around. And also let it be known those very old antique TV sets that my grandmother really wanted to put an arrangement of some sort for her own decorating the house, well home to fish! lol Memories! May God bless her resting soul.


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