The Cruelty to Bettas

[biondoa]

Is anything being done about the way that bettas are handled in the pet industry? It is so sad to see them suffering and dying in Petsmart and Walmart and Petco and others, in those tiny, disgusting little cups.
If there is a group working to stop this dreadful treatment of these beautiful fish, I would like to know about it and add my name to the list, and find out some way to stop this terrible situation. I am so happy I rescued my little Charlie from Petco, and he is such a sweetie, but so many others are not so lucky. I know it is hard to keep them, since you need nearly a whole tank for one fish, but a little 5 gallon is plenty. They should stop breeding so many that just suffer and die. Often, even if they are taken home, they end up in a small bowl at the bottom of a plant with no filtration or air until they suffocate and die. How very sad!

 

[Juice]

I agree that this is very sad, I can't say that I know of any groups in particular that are working to stop the mass distribution, though I'm sure there have been petitions here and there to do so. One thing we can do is to stop purchasing or "rescuing" (as many of us see it) from big box pet stores, as difficult as it is to past them knowing they may die in their conditions, those bought will just be replaced by a whole new batch and the cycle will continue. I've purchased my fair share of betta's from the big box stores until I came across a local LFS that puts their males in community tanks, and females together until they could find homes. Since then I only purchase there or from other members. I've also been known to change their water at places such as Walmart, where it seems they get the very worst treatment :L

 

[biondoa]

Well that is exactly what I did when I purchased Charlie. I saw that he was a fairly healthy one compared to the others. There has to be something that can help. the good news is that he is dong great. You can't love a fish the way you love a dog or cat, but Charlie is loved about as much as a person can love a fish.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yeah, this gets brought up quite a bit on fish forums. It would be nice if they would at least keep male bettas in divider tanks, and females in groups, but at the end of the day, most of your pet/LFS fish are produced, shipped and displayed for sale in a way we wouldn't do. Gotta be careful what you wish for IMO.

 

[henningc]

I have made my opinion clear, the stores should stop selling half dead bettas and display what they have correctly. I transshipped wholesale fish years ago and can tell you the loss ratio and condition of the fish is unacceptable. I started the DIY Betta Project and have given away almost 100 bettas. This may sound small but I is 100 healthy fish that kept folks out of the store. I plan to continue this project and will likely sell a few pairs and use the money to pay postage making the fish totally free. Anyone who wants to join me just say the word. I'll se you up with breeders and walk you through the process.

 

[Duckie]

Is anything being done about the way that bettas are handled in the pet industry? It is so sad to see them suffering and dying in Petsmart and Walmart and Petco and others, in those tiny, disgusting little cups.
If there is a group working to stop this dreadful treatment of these beautiful fish, I would like to know about it and add my name to the list, and find out some way to stop this terrible situation. I am so happy I rescued my little Charlie from Petco, and he is such a sweetie, but so many others are not so lucky.

Actually, while you may call it rescuing, you just added to the problem yourself. It is impossible to rescue them all - the more that get rescued the more get restocked. Our betta was bought in Walmart, but I wasn't rescuing him, I selfishly bought him. I won't buy any other fish from Walmart any more - over the last few years the condition of the tanks in my local Walmart got worse and worse. Now it is almost impossible to find a tank in Walmart that does not have one or more dead fish in them. The one positive thing about the cups the bettas are sold in is that they at least don't have to live in a tank full of dead fish (that would be the other tanks). After I had him temporary in a 2.5 gallon tank for a few weeks (kept looking healthy) he is now rehomed to the big tank and his permanent home. If he stays only in his territory of the tank, then he claimed the whole 180 gallon as his territory. The only places he won't go is the sleeping/hiding areas of the other fish. And no matter where he sleeps the other fish leave him alone - there is multiple spots he likes, his favorite is on top of a powerhead close to the surface.

I know it is hard to keep them, since you need nearly a whole tank for one fish, but a little 5 gallon is plenty.

That is not entirely true. Bettas do make great community fish as they are so very peaceful. They also naturally have the smarts to stay out of trouble and the means to defend their territory. You don't really need a whole tank for one fish, even the 5 gallon tank can happily house a male betta and other friendly fish. Male bettas are not the only fish that should not have company of their own kind, or require special arrangements if attempting to keep more than one in the same tank.

They should stop breeding so many that just suffer and die. Often, even if they are taken home, they end up in a small bowl at the bottom of a plant with no filtration or air until they suffocate and die. How very sad!

They will only stop breeding so many if everybody stops buying them, IMHO. If they stopped selling all the fish (not just bettas) that mostly get bought and stuck in inadequate environments, then there would be a lot less fish for sale. Without the bigbox stores selling fish, there would be a lot less people interested in keeping them.

 

[evil wizard]

It's these kind of threads I like to see pop up every once in a while.you might be able to get a few good conversations out of it.

 

[petluvr]

Agree that by purchasing you didn't rescue but instead doomed others to the same thing. Also bettas are labyrinth fish.

 

[Chaz88]

I agree that they should not be kept the way they normally are. But it can be a slippery slope when you go down the cruelty to fish road. When is any fish kept in an aquarium properly housed? We can set any cut off line for the appropriate number of gallons and tank footprint for any given fish but most of us will never come close to giving them the kind of space they would have in nature. I can argue that most of my fish live longer in my tanks than in nature so I am actually doing them a service. But most of them will never reproduce so I have deprived them of their most basic reason for being alive. I have been keeping fish for a long time and will not likely give it up but if you follow the Betta in a cup thinking far enough most of us just have a slightly bigger cup and should give up keeping fish.

 

[evil wizard]

asking me to give up fish is like someone asking me to give up breathing. I'll die if I do it.