Hell of a life

This might upset some of you. I secretly took a photo of this poor guy. This is an aquarium store where I sometimes purchase my fish. Don't take any notice of the guy in the photo he was a customer. I asked the fish man if he would sell that poor betta to me but he wasn't for sale. I told him that he will die if you don't put him in a bigger container. The photo isn't very clear but his water was putrid. He said they live in puddles of water. I was dumb struck and left shaking my head. The next day I came back and asked again can I buy this fish and once again he refused. Do you think the RSPCA would do anything if I told them about it? They would probably take his word for it that he is ok in such a small space......he's the expert.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Its a pet store and I thought the idea was to sell the animals. Maybe they are
turning it into a mini zoo.

You could lodge a complaint with the RSPCA and even if no results maybe the store
will receive other complaints leading to an investigation.

You could keep returning there and maybe catch another clerk who will sell it.
Did they give a reason for not selling? Unfortunately its in a tiny vessel that
appears was designed for the keeping of Bettas. Might be great for crickets!

Even if they filled the thing up it would be double the volume of water which would be marginally better... unfortunately this seems all too common, the guy running the place has probably been in the trade for years and thus holds the old beliefs about the kind of environments bettas live in.

Maybe the fish is in quarantine? Still that means a week or two in disgusting cramped conditions before they sell him, not that he'll last that long

I go to a fish shop that houses their bettas in very small containers, not this bad but not much bigger, thing is they get a shipment of bettas in one day and they're sold out within 3-4 days so it's not like they're in those conditions long, unfortunately for this little guy that doesn't seem to be the case I'd definitely complain to the RSPCA or the local pet shop licensing authority.

The store owner has had this business for years and I'd say the fish was a display to sell the containers @ $4.95 The betta is a delta and he has never sold any other type other than VT.

Unfortunately I have to agree with you.