An upsetting sight: Betta in small little plastic bag....!

[windcharm]

Hi All,

I went to one of the well known LFS (Sea view) in selatar last Saturday. It was my first visit there and I was amused that they have so many accessories & types of fishes & plants.

As I was walking to the aquatic plant section, I was very upset to see bettas in small little packet of plastic bag and was tied put in a pail. I am not talking about those clear plastic bag for drinks but those little plastic bag for putting those chicken rice chilli.....

The Betta do not have any room to swim and a very limited supply of oxygen in the sealed bag.

This LFS shows a lack of respect for a living thing!

Seeing this scence, I left the LFS without buying anything from them.

I am now thinking of reporting this to SPCA, do you think they will make an investigation?

This has not different from the LIVE!!? goldfish keychain thread posted by JWUOG

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=43321

[acc]

Ya I saw it too and thought its inhumane too. So decided to leave without buying any. At least the bettas in wuhu gets to swim in a nice little tank, and I bought fishes there instead.

[EvolutionZ]

this is not the worst yet..
i have seen rows of those plastic tau hua tub filled with very little water.. and a almost dying betta inside.. the water level they put just cover the betta and enough to let it live only..

[route]

saw the same scene at mainland as well. one of the betta was on the floor, obviously the bag dropped and nobody bothered to pick it up when i saw it, the fish was already dried up

[1001wishes]

It is upsetting indeed to know that some LFS are giving scant respect for the well-being of the fish that they are relying on to earn a living. I have never visited Seaview before but it has been on my mind to make a trip there. After reading this post, I have decided not to do so anymore.

Thanks to windcharm who reported on what he saw. I wonder if someone has told the lfs owner that what he did is frowned upon and disagreeable? As a community of hobbyists on aquarium and fish, it is only responsible for us to highlight such ill-treatments to everyone, voice out against them, and urge fellow hobbyists to vote with our feet. Perhaps the lfs owner would learn/pay more attention if his bottomline is hurt.

[bryan]

Shouldn't be targeting only Seaview. Infact most of the LFS are guilty of ill treating their lifestock. Maybe the threadstarter has not visited enough LFS to know. I'm quite bothered about the prebagged fish. Many a time Ive walked past the dumpster at the carpark of C328. Bags of exotic dead fish that never made it. How long had they been bagged before dying I wonder? I know a LFS guy that rather watch tv the whole day than scoop out rotting dead fish. Well, he's been in business for years. Seems the general view of animal cruelty does not extend to fish.

[1001wishes]

Thanks, bryan, for the bigger picture. I guess I am still fairly new to this hobby to have seen all the ill-treatments prevalent in LFS. To some extent, such bad treatment of fishes is unavoidable because many LFS owners are in this line not for their love of fishes. Like most businesses (and even in education sector these days), it is about the bottomline.

But perhaps it is also more about education than callous attitude, because I have seen notable exceptions where the LFS takes good care of fishes. Biotope and Wuhu are examples and they will be my first option for buying fishes even if it means travelling further and spending more.

What we as hobbyist would want to guard against is being numbed by the ill-treatment and let them prevail. Of course it is not wise, just like mike said, to confront the owner. So what we could do really is to aim from far far, and simply talk openly about not giving business to the shops that ill-treat fishes (but follow up with action). When the owner (of any LFS) knows that what they are doing is chasing away some potential customers, he may think twice the next time. No need to talk sense into them, just talk cents and dollars with these fellas.

In this way, haha, mike, you can continue to eat your shark fin unchallenged. But be careful, don't let your conscience for those dying and wasted sharks poke you when you are gulping down the next spoonful.

[1001wishes]

Haha, your posting is always funny, mike. The t-shirt is a good idea, provided that the fish-shop owners take the time to look at you and read your t-shirt. Most of the time, I found them too busy with all other things (except serving me).

I don't want to be a fish rights activist. We Singaporeans are not good in such activity. We are trained to be timid/docile/obedient from young!

[vwsj84]

yeah... i bet many betta breeders also cull numerous betta fry that do not make the cut. Now is that animal cruelty? This is really something that cannot be judged to be right or wrong. Its just depends on one's point of view.

[1001wishes]

Vwsj84, once we start making comparison between practice in one instance with practice in another context and scenario, things start to get murky. Perhaps we ought to judge each case on its own and then just do what we perceive as right as we see it?

Hey Mike, you are right. I have small ego, maybe because there is nothing that I can be proud of (e.g., no 5-ft beautifully scaped tank). But we are going off-track in our discussion, haha.

The threadstarter has long disappeared into the sunset (or into another LFS). Perhaps it is time to rest this thread. But hope everyone can give a little thought and contribute a little to ensure that cruel practices are not condoned. Then it will be a better tomorrow for the fishes!

[windcharm]

Vwsj84, once we start making comparison between practice in one instance with practice in another context and scenario, things start to get murky. Perhaps we ought to judge each case on its own and then just do what we perceive as right as we see it?

Hey Mike, you are right. I have small ego, maybe because there is nothing that I can be proud of (e.g., no 5-ft beautifully scaped tank). But we are going off-track in our discussion, haha.

The threadstarter has long disappeared into the sunset (or into another LFS). Perhaps it is time to rest this thread. But hope everyone can give a little thought and contribute a little to ensure that cruel practices are not condoned. Then it will be a better tomorrow for the fishes!

I am still here dude and I have been following this thread.. I thought I should only update you all once I got the reply from the authority. Anyway, I have reported this case to SPCA and they have referred my case to AVA since this involves business. It has been a week plus and I am still waiting for their reply. Not everyone just talk without action.

[windcharm]

I got an update from AVA. They have advised the business owner to use proper contain for the bettas and they will monitor it.

If anyone happened to go to this LFS, please see if they have really done so.

Thank you everyone for your comments and feedbacks.

Thanks

With regards
Windcharm