I'm SO angry right now.

Well, heres the story..

Mum wanted some stones for the garden, so we went to a local garden centre, in the garden centre is a shop (ARK PET AND AQUATICS ) So i went off on my own to look at the bettas.

As i went into the fish room, i didnt notice anything, just the plain red and blue bettas. Anway as i walked around the room i saw a betta in EVERY TANK. I was shocked at how many they had in as they dont really have many in often. Then i went around to the coldwater section and they had BETTAS IN WITH COLDWATER FISH - Many of them lethargic, some dead and getting eaten, some just lying there on the bottom of the tank. I was pacing the fish room, so annoyed that they could treat the fish like this. I decided to take some photos, I went back to the tropical section, then, on closer inspection i saw that the tanks had not one, but TWO BETTAS IN EACH TANK. I was furios and started taking
photos.

The bettas were getting shredded to peices by one another too, and by other fish!

Anyway, i started taking photos when the manager came up to me and asked me why i was taking photos. I nearly exploded, asking questions as to why there were 2 bettas in each tank, why they were in the coldwater section too.
His reply was: "we ordered too many"
I said "Are you not capable of only ordering how many you can house? And if too many arived why did you accept the delivery!?"
He was speechless.
I then asked him why they were being kept with coldwater fish, he told me that they could be kept with coldwater fish!!!! So i asked him what the difference between COLDWATER and TROPICAL water was, he said that tropical was warmer (duh!) and then asked him what bettas were, he said tropical ( )

Anyway, he told me that i didnt know i was talking about because im young (Okay, im only 15, but im sure i know more about bettas than him!). This got me really angry and i started shaking and my blood started boiling. Lucky mum came in and found me before i really combusted! (She was gobsmacked, im very shy) I told her what was wrong with the shop, She was pretty serious too, she knows how much i love fish and bettas in particular. She got their head office number and email and the name of the manager. By this time i had gone out the shop to get some fresh air.

I will be taking action.

Anyway, here are the photos i took, Sorry if there are too many and if they are blury, but i was shaking! Im also sorry for any typos and my terrible grammar, but im in a rush!


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Betta with coldwater fish
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Two bettas together
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Two bettas (Blue towards the back)
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Took this one because of the massive chunk missing out of his tail!
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A finless, dead betta getting eaten!
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The dead betta getting dragged away
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Poor boy
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Two bettas at the back (blue and red)
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The poor red one after the encounter with the blue one!

That's just horrible!
How could somebody treat living things with that level of respect.

That is appauling

Very well done you for standing up and being counted :D With those type of pictures you could easily report them to the council who issue the pet shop licenses.

OMG.....that is just disgusting Those poor Bettas just don't stand a chance and the problem is....even if they sell any they will be so stressed and ill that they probably wont last very long.

Let us know if you get any response from their head office!!!

OMG Firstly I'm shocked your 15 you have always seemed much older in my eyes (mature) WOW

But thats disgusting!!!! We went to a place in Poole the other week they had also ordered to many bettas and had put them in cold water. One tank had 8 males together There was a betta there without any finnage left. It just seems that these places get away with treating fish this way far easier than cute cuddly pets. It's wrong and I so feel your anger. ::

Im going to write a letter now, both to head office and the council. I have done a bit of research (This is the law side of me coming into action!) And i have found this:

From the pet shop licencing section of the council website

Requirements

Before being granted a licence the applicant must be able to demonstrate that;

• Animals will at all times be kept in accommodation suitable in respect of construction, size of quarters, number of occupants, exercising facilities, temperatures, lighting, ventilation and cleanliness.
  

Dont worry, I am detemined to get feedback from this, both from the council and head office.

Excellent research done there CeeJayy, well done

thats jsut shocking well done for u for standin up for the poor lil fishies

Wow, i have never seen anything as bad as that. The manager needs sacking:(

Well done on your research CJ....we're all behind you on this one

Hi Guys, I have just sent the email to Head office, the council licencing department, and the RSPCA - Who knows, they might do something.

If anyone wants a copy of the letter, feel free to PM me and i will send it to you

Good for you! That is disgusting how they treat those fish and also their comments towards you, I bet you were fuming. I would really like to know if you get a response.

Good luck with your emails, fingers crossed action will be taken against that shop. I can't believe shops are keeping them that badly, i'm glad it wasn't me there cause i'd probably of been arrested!

Ughh! That absolutely disgusts me! And what's also bad is that people come into the store and see that the fish store has two bettas together so why can't I? People just ERK! me sometimes!

Well done!!!
behind you all the way hun - keep the pics if you can and report to the council - even of they dont have their licence revoked a good hefty fine or warning should hopefully give them a kick up the butt

once again well done hun

Omg!

Poor babies. That makes me so sad.

Would they let aggressive mammals and reptiles be kept together? No, because you can see their pain and hear them cry out when they fight, and it would put people off. Fish are silent and small, so I guess they figure it doesn't matter too much.

It's sick that people are allowed near animals when they know so little. Report them to RSPCA and other animals rights organisations, and report them to the local council. Show them the photos.

I'd be interested in seeing the letter, if you could PM it to me +)

Just got an email from the council -My email has been forwarded to the senior licencing officer . Looks like i'm going to get somewhere with it!

I'll pm you the letter Assaye

Thanks CeeJayy!

Great letter =) well researched and to the point.

Thanks CeeJayy!

Great letter =) well researched and to the point.

Good news CJ....let's hope something is done soon

jeese thats messed up, ive seen a shope order too many round here once they wanted to get 25 and 150 showed up what the owner iof the small place did was float the indivdual cups in heated tanks, yea they were astuck in a small cup but they were warm and not able to rip each other apart.

Dear Christopher
 
Thank you for your email of which all points are noted, I shall enquire of everybody involved at this branch and send you a reply on allpoints as soon as I have all the facts available to me, this should take a 2 or 3 days
 
Best Regards
 
Barry Ash

that is the reply I have had back from head office at least something is getting done!!

well done ceejayy,
sorry ive only just read this
and my blood is boiling,but would just like to say to you,
thank you for taking the time to write the letter
once again thank you and well done

CeeJayy wrote:Dear Christopher
 
Thank you for your email of which all points are noted, I shall enquire of everybody involved at this branch and send you a reply on allpoints as soon as I have all the facts available to me, this should take a 2 or 3 days
 
Best Regards
 
Barry Ash

that is the reply I have had back from head office at least something is getting done!!

Lets hope they do reply hun cos that was disgusting - make sure you contact them again in 3 days if you dont have a reply hun - we're all behind you here

once again well done for pointing this out and being so proactive

We have now concluded the matter that was your concern, this was an unfortunate occurrence which at the time the acting manager was unable to resolve in an instant, which I believe he tried unsuccessfully to communicate to you on the day of your visit. (YES, HE DID UNSUCCESFULLY COMMUNICATE TO ME - HE WAS SPEECHLESS !)

It appears that the aquarium received a large consignment of fish the previous evening to your visit which had come direct from Heathrow, as had our other branches, for some unknown reason our Far East supplier have decided to double pack bettas in bags and increased the volume for what we class as 1/6th of a box from 60 to 180 fish which made to accommodate them very difficult, as our other branches experienced the same overload we were unable to move fish between branches, the problem was solved later in the day when we gave a large number of the bettas to a local breeder to enhance his brood stock.

We have spoken at length to our suppliers, a copy of he last couple of emails are attached for your notice,

I hope this settles your concern and I am reliably informed that there was a 100% survival rate on these fish

Regards

Barry Ash

Hi Jasmine

I have spoken to Barry about your last e-mail and he is still not happy with the situation. We have again checked your order list and it clearly shows that a box of mail bettas would be 300 fish, we therefore assumed that 1/6 would be 50 fish (300 divided by 6). As to your suggestion of putting them in cups, this would be adequate for the needs of the fish but would again have attracted complaints from the public and attention from the licensing authority. Barry would still like some sort of explanation as to why the fish were packed 2 in a bag, was this a mistake? and can you assure us this isn't going to happen again?

Best regards, James

Hi James



Thank you for your email.



Since we changed to the big box packing, we have been packing betta with 2 in a bag as this will save you alot on freight, hence giving you a more competitive landed price. This new improved technique of ours is warmly welcome by all our other clients as they can save on freight cost hence we also packed them in the same way for you so you could also enjoy the freight savings, not knowing that you would have problem with your authority.



We will take note not to pack in this new manner for your future orders and we sincerely apologise for all inconveniences caused to you and Mr Barry.



Best regards.

Jasmine

I still want to know why 2 bettas are being packed into one bag, and at least the licencing authority are still investigating!