Betta rescue -rant

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wataugachicken

The Dancing Banana
Jul 14, 2005
5,451
1
0
Charlotte, NC
Why is it that people think buying a "sad, lonely" betta at the LFS, or two, or five, means that you are rescueing them? They're just going to order more because suddenly you bought five and now there's a huge empty space on the shelf.

And I know you could say that by buying them, you can save those few fish, but overall it just leads to greater harm, because any that are purchased will be replaced. If you want something done, you have to speak up. If you buy bettas in bowls, the owner or manager is going to think you're okay with that. By speaking up and saying that you will only buy bettas that are kept in better conditions, and you get your friends and family and neighbors to say it too, then something *might* change.

Money spent on something is money in support of that thing. Not spending your money, and letting everyone know why, is a much more motivating factor.

I was looking up local Doberman rescues and decided to see if there were any fish rescues out there, and I found a site for betta rescue:

Have you ever seen Bettas at the pet store living in those TINY containers sitting on a shelf on top of each other and beside each other, with dirty water and they are practically sitting in their own feces? Flaring with anger? Or maybe they weren’t flaring with anger; maybe they were too weak to flare or didn’t have enough room to even stretch their fins fully. And some even have water that was died with food coloring? That’s unacceptable and if you ask BBRC (Breawna's Betta Rescue Centr [sic]), abuse & neglect. That’s where BBRC comes in. “We go to the pet store weekly, and if we see a needy Betta, we buy him and bring him home. There is no way we let them live like that – it’s just plain unacceptable” says Breawna, owner of BBRC. “Another thing we do is accept emails from people who need homes for their Bettas, they can ship their Betta(s) to us and we will house them in a filtered temporary home”
Sounds like impulse control problems, with "betta rescue" as a justification. The "rescuer" doesn't even realize that the abusive and cruel "food coloring" in the bowls is - surprise!- medication. Food coloring + betta = not being able to see the fish's coloration = not making a sale to normal people. Medication + betta = healthy betta = better life for betta!

BBRC Bettas cannot be housed with any other fish besides small feeder guppies which they might eat.
This definitely doesn't make sense. Most people who have kept bettas in community tanks can tell you that often they do just fine. As with any fish, tankmates have to be a consideration, but it doesn't make sense to disallow placing the betta in with other peaceful fish in what might be a substantially larger tank.
Also - feeder guppies probably constitute a greater risk to the betta than a peaceful community tank. Feeder guppies often carry diseases like fungus, ich, or columnaris, and they die like it's their job, fouling up the water and causing ammonia spikes. Plus - who's out there rescuing the feeder guppies? Don't all fish have the right to a long and happy life? Why are feeder guppies so undeserving of the rescuer's compassion?

I'm going to go start the FGRC. . . . right after my bichir gets his lunch.
 

YoFishboy

I'll sleep when I'm dead...
Feb 16, 2005
1,853
0
36
62
VERY well put Wataugachicken....this could be a companion piece for the PETA discussions on this forum...it's too bad that seemingly so few people use the organ housed above their necks.....
 

J double R

The Devil
Jan 13, 2007
6,071
2
62
38
Louisiana
Real Name
Jon
awesome post! one thing though, i do see the food-color thing quite a bit.. when i used to live in california, my sister worked at a carnival. and they DID use food coloring to tint the water in the goldfish/betta displays.
 

5xevy

Member #62,749
Jan 3, 2007
1,785
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Upstate, NY
Great thread.
 

fishcatch22

The Picotoper
Jun 13, 2006
4,214
2
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33
Morris, Illinois
nice thread, you should email this to the betta rescuer association and see what they say.
 

jm1212

Pterophyllum scalare
Jul 22, 2006
23,652
9
89
31
Chicago
Real Name
Jon
its sad too that they "think" they are rescuing the fish when they are acctually just fueling the fire.
in my area, the bettas barely have time to make enough feces before they are out fo the store. my petsmart gets about 30 males or so every Wednesday (from the carts that i have seen) and maybe 15 females. the males are usually gone by monday, and there are occasionally females after the new shippment arrives.

what they should focus on is not "saving" the bettas from the pet store, but educating the people that buy them. sometimes the bettas are better off in the little cups. there is more water in the cups (well in my area, dont know how big they are around you) than in some of the "tanks" they sell. BBRC should tell people the truth about having bettas; they need at least 3 gallons, 5 preferably, with a heater AND a filter.

off topic... i never understood why Petsmart can go by their inch/gallon crud and then sell a betta to a person that has a tankthat is like 1/4 of a gallon. all of the males i have seen are at least 2 inches long, which would constitute a tank of at least 2 gallons by their rule.
 

catlantic

Registered Member
Aug 7, 2012
0
0
0
Why is it that people think buying a "sad, lonely" betta at the LFS, or two, or five, means that you are rescueing them? They're just going to order more because suddenly you bought five and now there's a huge empty space on the shelf.

And I know you could say that by buying them, you can save those few fish, but overall it just leads to greater harm, because any that are purchased will be replaced. If you want something done, you have to speak up. If you buy bettas in bowls, the owner or manager is going to think you're okay with that. By speaking up and saying that you will only buy bettas that are kept in better conditions, and you get your friends and family and neighbors to say it too, then something *might* change.

Money spent on something is money in support of that thing. Not spending your money, and letting everyone know why, is a much more motivating factor.

I was looking up local Doberman rescues and decided to see if there were any fish rescues out there, and I found a site for betta rescue:



Sounds like impulse control problems, with "betta rescue" as a justification. The "rescuer" doesn't even realize that the abusive and cruel "food coloring" in the bowls is - surprise!- medication. Food coloring + betta = not being able to see the fish's coloration = not making a sale to normal people. Medication + betta = healthy betta = better life for betta!



This definitely doesn't make sense. Most people who have kept bettas in community tanks can tell you that often they do just fine. As with any fish, tankmates have to be a consideration, but it doesn't make sense to disallow placing the betta in with other peaceful fish in what might be a substantially larger tank.
Also - feeder guppies probably constitute a greater risk to the betta than a peaceful community tank. Feeder guppies often carry diseases like fungus, ich, or columnaris, and they die like it's their job, fouling up the water and causing ammonia spikes. Plus - who's out there rescuing the feeder guppies? Don't all fish have the right to a long and happy life? Why are feeder guppies so undeserving of the rescuer's compassion?

I'm going to go start the FGRC. . . . right after my bichir gets his lunch.




In reply to your thoughts about rescuing bettas you could argue that they will replace the bettas anyway if they die so what's better let the betta die slowly of ammonia poisoning or give it a second chance at life?
 
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