I need help--really lots of it.
- Thread starter Sully
- Start date
A three-part update. Part one deals with PETsMART; part two with help we need; and part three with activities being initiated over the next few weeks.
1. The review process at PETsMART has become very detailed. PETsMART and NCIAC.net will continue to exchange information and thoughts about the accuracy of the content through the next several weeks.
To date we can say the fish sizes have shown an incredible change. The information we have seen accurately describes the species being sold. Great job PETsMArt! It is something that PETsMART should be recognized for.
A near universal clarification of tank sizes required has occurred. Sizes have been increased to more accurately represent long term needs. In about 1/2 of the instances there is little if any room for disagreement. In the other instances the sizes are typically larger than what exists on current signage--but could still be subjected to a more careful scrutiny by PETsMART. It is our hope that many of the suggested tank sizes are increased.
Use of “Salt” has yet to be suggested as a requirement for any species reviewed (that is a change).
The people involved with NCIAC.net that have seen the data, reviewed it, and sent back suggestions for improvement are generally encouraged by the results to date. Parts of the process could drag into March.
We have to honor corporate confidentiality of this information. Final decisions have not yet been made. As we are able to share detailed information we will.
2. Which brings us to stuff to do--lol. Next up are PetCo, Petland and Walmart. We have some data for each of these retailers. Nothing as comprehensive as what were able to assemble for PETsMART. We need help getting POP Signage data for these companies. Hopefully people here and other sites will once again pitch into the effort and gather data. Our format can be seen at http://www.noclownsinacube.net/fish_chart.html. Copies of the spreadsheet that drove that page can be downloaded from a link at the bottom of the chart--feel free to use our spreadsheet. Any keystroking and re-entry we can avoid is appreciated. This time you can win a yet to be designed NCIAC.net T-Shirt—lol.
Hopefully hobbyists help out again. We need to have accurate and comprehensive information to utilize during letter writing and e.mail efforts. We also need to have that information during direct conversation with the companies. Help with this will assist both you other hobbyists in getting a good baseline of information to utilize in the practice of Responsible Husbandry.
3. PetCo. We do have enough data to begin our efforts there. We need more to be as accurate as possible. Within the next 10-14 days we will once again post suggestions that specific types of correspondence be prepared and snail mailed or e-mailed. Hopefully we can once again generate e.mails and letters evidencing the concern shared by the hobbyist market.
Hope you all have a Happy and Successful New Year.
sully
You will see revisions to our site to reflect the progress being made in our attempt to work with retailers. It will take us a week to get those changes made—they will include sample letters you could use in our shared effort.
1. The review process at PETsMART has become very detailed. PETsMART and NCIAC.net will continue to exchange information and thoughts about the accuracy of the content through the next several weeks.
To date we can say the fish sizes have shown an incredible change. The information we have seen accurately describes the species being sold. Great job PETsMArt! It is something that PETsMART should be recognized for.
A near universal clarification of tank sizes required has occurred. Sizes have been increased to more accurately represent long term needs. In about 1/2 of the instances there is little if any room for disagreement. In the other instances the sizes are typically larger than what exists on current signage--but could still be subjected to a more careful scrutiny by PETsMART. It is our hope that many of the suggested tank sizes are increased.
Use of “Salt” has yet to be suggested as a requirement for any species reviewed (that is a change).
The people involved with NCIAC.net that have seen the data, reviewed it, and sent back suggestions for improvement are generally encouraged by the results to date. Parts of the process could drag into March.
We have to honor corporate confidentiality of this information. Final decisions have not yet been made. As we are able to share detailed information we will.
2. Which brings us to stuff to do--lol. Next up are PetCo, Petland and Walmart. We have some data for each of these retailers. Nothing as comprehensive as what were able to assemble for PETsMART. We need help getting POP Signage data for these companies. Hopefully people here and other sites will once again pitch into the effort and gather data. Our format can be seen at http://www.noclownsinacube.net/fish_chart.html. Copies of the spreadsheet that drove that page can be downloaded from a link at the bottom of the chart--feel free to use our spreadsheet. Any keystroking and re-entry we can avoid is appreciated. This time you can win a yet to be designed NCIAC.net T-Shirt—lol.
Hopefully hobbyists help out again. We need to have accurate and comprehensive information to utilize during letter writing and e.mail efforts. We also need to have that information during direct conversation with the companies. Help with this will assist both you other hobbyists in getting a good baseline of information to utilize in the practice of Responsible Husbandry.
3. PetCo. We do have enough data to begin our efforts there. We need more to be as accurate as possible. Within the next 10-14 days we will once again post suggestions that specific types of correspondence be prepared and snail mailed or e-mailed. Hopefully we can once again generate e.mails and letters evidencing the concern shared by the hobbyist market.
Hope you all have a Happy and Successful New Year.
sully
You will see revisions to our site to reflect the progress being made in our attempt to work with retailers. It will take us a week to get those changes made—they will include sample letters you could use in our shared effort.
we are also offering assistance to a gentleman in germany that is introducing the discussion to German language boards.
A poster developed by Martin Thoene (from LOL) describing appropriate Clown Loach care is also available for use by retailers (a downloadable pdf). Or a hobbyist if they want to simply hang it on a wall.
http://www.noclownsinacube.net/forum/index.php?topic=124.new#new
A poster developed by Martin Thoene (from LOL) describing appropriate Clown Loach care is also available for use by retailers (a downloadable pdf). Or a hobbyist if they want to simply hang it on a wall.
http://www.noclownsinacube.net/forum/index.php?topic=124.new#new
I've just come across this thread and have read it with great interest! I think it is great to see the efforts of you all to get the retailers in line!!
It's all for the benefit of the lovely and beautiful fish we are keeping in our homes and not about the $$!
It's all for the benefit of the lovely and beautiful fish we are keeping in our homes and not about the $$!
Just a quick note to let everyone know that while we have not been as visible we have been active.
For those of you that have been curious about revisions made by PETsMART the new signage should have begun to show up in some stores. How they are rolling it out is a different discussion, which will be talked about soon.
Here is a link to a quick and dirty spreadsheet presentation at No Clowns In A Cube.net. We have been playing with a database presentation of the data--it will be neat and it will be soon.
http://www.noclownsinacube.net/fish_chart.html
There are two types of PETsMART entries. One is simply PETsMART Revision. In instances the PETsMART line is indeed a Revision. Our data was sufficiently incomplete--or absent--that we utilized the most recent data without differentiating between the previous and current iterations.
You will also notice the inclusion of data from a couple of the web based and catalog retailers. At the same time you will also see the beginnings of the inclusion of data from "Pet Connection Mfg". Pet Connection Mfg is the company that provides those incredibly incomplete--and often inaccurate signs for the lfs market.
We have significantly more species form both the retailers and Pet Connection Mfg to add. We want to be as accurate and thorough as possible so it will take another 30-60 days to get a more comprehensive look at the retail market. It is a great beginning.
We will be resuming web-based efforts asking for letters very soon. We needed to back-up a bit and get better organized. Thanks for all your support so far--we will need much more in the future.
sully
PS. Sorry for the link. There is just no other way for the information to be easily presented. Site admins/mods please send us a 468 x 60 banner for inclusion in our banner program—it is free—lol.
For those of you that have been curious about revisions made by PETsMART the new signage should have begun to show up in some stores. How they are rolling it out is a different discussion, which will be talked about soon.
Here is a link to a quick and dirty spreadsheet presentation at No Clowns In A Cube.net. We have been playing with a database presentation of the data--it will be neat and it will be soon.
http://www.noclownsinacube.net/fish_chart.html
There are two types of PETsMART entries. One is simply PETsMART Revision. In instances the PETsMART line is indeed a Revision. Our data was sufficiently incomplete--or absent--that we utilized the most recent data without differentiating between the previous and current iterations.
You will also notice the inclusion of data from a couple of the web based and catalog retailers. At the same time you will also see the beginnings of the inclusion of data from "Pet Connection Mfg". Pet Connection Mfg is the company that provides those incredibly incomplete--and often inaccurate signs for the lfs market.
We have significantly more species form both the retailers and Pet Connection Mfg to add. We want to be as accurate and thorough as possible so it will take another 30-60 days to get a more comprehensive look at the retail market. It is a great beginning.
We will be resuming web-based efforts asking for letters very soon. We needed to back-up a bit and get better organized. Thanks for all your support so far--we will need much more in the future.
sully
PS. Sorry for the link. There is just no other way for the information to be easily presented. Site admins/mods please send us a 468 x 60 banner for inclusion in our banner program—it is free—lol.
PETCO Update--06-04-07
An update –it seems to be the week for those.
We tried a slightly different approach with PETCO. We combined the public letter writing campaign, which so many of you participated in, with behind the scenes letter writing, phone calls and e.mails. In part a different tactic to make sure everyone does not burn out sending letters, in part to accommodate the schedules of people atNCIAC.net (all volunteer groups are tough—lol).
We received an e.mail from PETCO today that is very encouraging. Here is the PETCO response.
Tom,
We would be glad to work with you. What do you have in mind?
Thanks,
Tom
Thomas M. Edling, DVM, MSpVM
Director, Veterinary Medicine
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc.
"At PETCO Animals Always Come First, and Our People Make it Happen" Happen"
Nominal editing of phones numbers has occurred.
The information is not changed yet. Yet, it is an indication of openness and willingness to examine change. As always, we will keep the hobbyists that have supported our efforts up to date.
PETCO is to be commended for their response. All of you should be commended for your support. Nothing happens without the fishkeepers that make this hobby such a great pursuit.
Thanks!
sully
An update –it seems to be the week for those.
We tried a slightly different approach with PETCO. We combined the public letter writing campaign, which so many of you participated in, with behind the scenes letter writing, phone calls and e.mails. In part a different tactic to make sure everyone does not burn out sending letters, in part to accommodate the schedules of people atNCIAC.net (all volunteer groups are tough—lol).
We received an e.mail from PETCO today that is very encouraging. Here is the PETCO response.
Tom,
We would be glad to work with you. What do you have in mind?
Thanks,
Tom
Thomas M. Edling, DVM, MSpVM
Director, Veterinary Medicine
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc.
"At PETCO Animals Always Come First, and Our People Make it Happen" Happen"
Nominal editing of phones numbers has occurred.
The information is not changed yet. Yet, it is an indication of openness and willingness to examine change. As always, we will keep the hobbyists that have supported our efforts up to date.
PETCO is to be commended for their response. All of you should be commended for your support. Nothing happens without the fishkeepers that make this hobby such a great pursuit.
Thanks!
sully
We could still use your help. If you have nice, clear, large sized images of your fish that you would not mind sharing for the effort we would dearly love to have as many species of fish as you can provide. Pictures including a ruler or some other way to show the relative size of the fish would be helpful. Many of these retailers understate the sizes of adult fish. (not to mention the other misinformation out there)
They will all be digitally watermarked to prevent unauthorized use. We will pay for the web tracking function to make tracking theft of images easy, at least if they are utilized on-line. The digital watermark will show if they try to lift them and use them in print. Unauthorized users will easily be busted.
Please consider contributing to the effort to promote accuracy in information among the major retailers, and ultimately better access to information which promotes responsible fishkeeping.
You can send them as attachments to:
heather@noclownsinacube.net, post them here and I'll pass them on to sully, or post them over at the NCIAC forum here:
http://www.noclownsinacube.net/forum/index.php?topic=81.0
Thanks to everyone who cares to contribute!
Heather Sanders
They will all be digitally watermarked to prevent unauthorized use. We will pay for the web tracking function to make tracking theft of images easy, at least if they are utilized on-line. The digital watermark will show if they try to lift them and use them in print. Unauthorized users will easily be busted.
Please consider contributing to the effort to promote accuracy in information among the major retailers, and ultimately better access to information which promotes responsible fishkeeping.
You can send them as attachments to:
heather@noclownsinacube.net, post them here and I'll pass them on to sully, or post them over at the NCIAC forum here:
http://www.noclownsinacube.net/forum/index.php?topic=81.0
Thanks to everyone who cares to contribute!
Heather Sanders
spirals
i will eat you in your sleep
kudos to you guys, finally someone actually acting on misinformation instead of just preaching to the choir about it 
Hopefully I'll be seeing new signs in the store soon, and revised training books!
Hopefully I'll be seeing new signs in the store soon, and revised training books!
