I remember one time I was in a PetCo and a woman with her 2 kids was there picking out every molly, platy, and swordtail they thought was pretty. "Yeah we need another molly becuase the last one accidentaly ehhhhh.... ". Like she didn't want to say the friggin fish died in front of her kids. Jesus she pissed me off :rant2:. I had to walk awy or else they probably would have kicked me out.
Eh, some of those kids end up loving the hobby and turn into great breeders that create new strains or help repopulate endangered species. Anyway, in the long run its helpful to the fish world for these kids to "break in" to the aquarium arena this way.
yeah, reziztor, spot on. the real problem is buying another one instead of exploring death itself, but unfortunatly grandparents often solve that problem.
last jack... passe is defined by Oxford as 'no longer fashionable' so i guess its just a cultural difference. it IS a legitimate moral issue, just a foregone legal one in American society. buyer beware.
actually, id say jack away as long as the morality issue is still at hand, and we all agree that it sucks that people buy fish uninformed, but then again, thats why some are so cheap
what really worries me is the state of Amazon backwaters, not if the fish die in an aquarium.... although they are directly related
Let's not forget that it isn't only fish who suffer from the general public's lack of concern for researching and fully understanding an animal before getting a pet. All animals are put through this ringer, especially herps. One thing I have to admire is that Petsmart and Petco officially stopped carrying iguanas for this reason. Now if they would only transfer that sense of responsibility to all of their other animals maybe the general public would see it as an example that owning a pet is not just a matter of buying them and bringing them home. :dog:
I agree with herps. I'd wager that 9/10 herps sold in a common pet store are to people who have no idea what it takes to keep them going and meet their needs. (I personally have two rescued fence lizards, a leopard gecko, a bull snake ((blind in one eye, poor thing)) and a king snake).
Business and money are probably the main thing that keeps pet stores from practicing the ethics of pet adoption agencies. I'm not saying that the whole adoption application process, etc is foolproof but it does at least make some attempt at ensuring the pet will go to more responsible party than someone who simply has the money to buy him/her.
Would it be so difficult for a store like Petsmart or Petco to train their employees to question customers who seem to be buying too many fish all at once? I mean I recall basic training at some waiting jobs I've had where we are supposed to watch out how many drinks our customers are having. Seems so simple, but no, pet stores just want to make the bucks. Even if that means selling ten kissing gouramis to a seven year old with a goldfish bowl.
Of course the restaurant wants you to limit your customers' drinks, because they can get in trouble or be sued. Yep, all about money.
Now if people were allowed to sue pet stores for selling them pets they can't care for...imagine how fast things would change.
totally. just look at land hermit crabs. they're crustaceans, but they require about the same habitat as a herp. i have 5 myself.
they need:
sand or coconut fiber substrait deep enough for them to completely bury themselves in
dechlorinated fresh AND salt water pools deep enough for them to completely submurge in (and ramps to get back out of)
fresh foods, and a wide variety of them.
80% relative humidity (they will suffocate to death if they dont have it)
80 degree temp
a friend. they're very social and need at least one friend of the same species
plenty of clean shells to change into (at least 3-4 per crab)
and they should be kept in a container no smaller than a 10 gallon aquarium.
HOWEVER
pet stores, the little mall kiosks, and anywhere else that sells hermit crabs insists that you can keep them in 1 gallon plastic kritter keepers with holes all over the lid, alone, with a half inch of sand or gravel, and a tiny shell for water.
and people wonder why they only live for a year?
in the wild, they CAN live for 70 years and grow to be the size of a softball or grapefruit, depending on species
One of the local, privately owned pet stores I frequent does a pretty good job. They won't sell a fish to a customer without asking ALOT of questions. They also keep a 5x8 index card on file for customers when checking their water for them and note the results whever they test so they can track trends, etc.
They sell pets other than fish also, and they are pretty knowledgeable about every type of pet they carry. On a number of occations, they've discouraged people from buying certain pets/fish for the right reasons.
Hooray for private business. (Yes I'm against big business.) That is exactly why I boycott Sprawl-Mart...though I admit I will shop at Petcrap and Petstupid. In fact, I would venture to say that my local Petstupid has some of the cleanest tanks and healthiest fishies I've ever seen or purchased.
