I just shouldnt leave the house...

[aidensmomma2000]

I should just stay home and never got into pet stores...


Today Im in SP and this _____ (you can fill in the blank with your favorite obscenity) is buying a THIRD male betta to go in with his other TWO male bettas. And this man is challenging me saying that his are fine, and Ive only read about them killing each other and Ive never seen it. And I said NO because if I saw 2 fish killing eachother (nor non-food purposes) I would take one out!

ARG!  :x

So he said well its only 2$ if they do (theyre on sale) and I said "yes but its a life!"  (I say this with great irony as I buy feeders for my gar- but Im not buying feeders with the intention of a slow and painful death.) Why would anyone deliberate do this? People are just horrible sometimes, they really are... :cry:

[s0me]

Ignorance is bliss. Maybe he gets his "kicks" from this. No love as a child will do that to some.

[Mettle]

I only know of one case of a two male bettas working out. It's a 36" long, extremely heavily planted tank. And I would say that is the absolute exception with no guarantees. Every day they're together is a gamble. (Though they've been together for about 5 or so months now with no issues.)

People are stupid that way.

[mseguin]

My theory is that no matter what fish you are talking about, somehwere, someone has gotten them to live together peacefully, even if its a piranha and a goldfish. But that doesnt mean its a good idea to ignore the oter 99.9% of the time it doesnt work. That guy will be back in 2-3 days asking for his money back cuz his fish died. I'd put good money on it.

[aidensmomma2000]

I think Im more upset because it speaks of the nature of the beast (people) and it makes me upset to believe that anyone would willingly torture an animal...

[Jim]

Poeple thease days.

Why wouldent someone who knows nothing about fish not take advice from someone who actually knows what there talking about!

[darkdep]

Here's the problem with fish.  If you are into them, you consider them a life, an animal, something to be valued.

If you're not into them, you see them as, well, probably on the same importance level as an ant.  One day I came home from pegasus' place with a couple buckets of fish, and my neighbour comes over and says "well, if they don't work out, it's only a flush and your problems are gone".  I couldn't believe he said that, but it just speaks of the person.

Most people, however, would be horrified if I said things like that about a dog.  My wife and kids have 2 small dogs, and personally I really don't like them (I'm just not a dog person).  I routinely throw out negative-dog-comments and will get flack for it, from the same people who make fish-flushing comments.

[Shouganai]

Sometimes it seems like people equate the 'cost' of a pet to its actual value as a living creature. I often saw this kind of situation working in the pet industry. "Oh, my fish/small animal died, oh well! Only $2.00/$5.00/whatever the cost!" Or even worse, if the fish becomes too much work or the person gets bored of it, they are sometimes not even opposed to just plain flushing the still-living fish! This drove me nuts!

Heh heh, I am SO jaded about pet ownership in general after my stint in the industry.

[aidensmomma2000]

I just couldnt do it (work in a petshop). Mettle (and others) I dont know how you do it! Id get fired the first day for kicking the customers...

[mseguin]

Really it applies to any kind of customer service job, they'res good customers and bad customers.  It's just somewhat ,ore annoying in a pet store becuz ur dealing with actual living things.

[Shouganai]

I just couldnt do it (work in a petshop). Mettle (and others) I dont know how you do it! Id get fired the first day for kicking the customers...

The key to sanity for me was being completely honest (sometimes brutally) with customers about whether or not a product I was selling was good or not. If I thought it was crap, I told people. It seemed like my customers really appreciated my honesty. Of course, if my bosses had heard me, I'd have been fired. I wasn't afraid to tell a customer to go elsewhere for something cheaper/better, or tell them where to look online (including OVAS) for DIY projects to save cash.

The biggest problem I had was when I worked in the reptiles department, though. There is a particular company or two that makes products for reptiles that really aren't good for them at all. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to educate my customers on the ins and outs of herpetoculture, and WHY they should NOT buy so many of the products I was hired to sell. For me, when it came down to commission/keeping my job over the welfare of an animal that cannot speak for itself, the animals always won out. And I had many repeat customers, and people that would want to contact only me for help.

When I worked in the industry, I was a member of a pet industry council called PIJAC. I had to sign a charter saying that I would promote the proper care and well-being of pets I bred/sold/cared for. And thats just what I did.

[Mettle]

After only a few months, I'm pretty jaded too...

A co-worker of mine and I sat down the other day and we chatted about bettas for example. We figure that approximately 90% of the bettas we sell will die within 3 days to three months and that only maybe about 1-2% live out their lives as they should. Just an example.

Same goes for a lot of goldfish customers. "I have a 10 gallon tank and would like to add 5 goldfish to it." After some persuading, and trying to show them other things, they end up leaving perhaps with one or two. But I know they're going to march right across the parkinglot to Walmart who'll sell them as many as they want.

Speaking of Walmart - I seem to be cleaning up their messes a lot more lately. Some examples include medium-large goldfish in bowls, African cichlids with angelfish, pictus with tetras, and some other stuff I'm no doubt forgetting. Oh yeah - classic was someone who bought 7 or 8 tiny baby oscars (I had seen them) for his 'huge 50 gallon tank'. Not to mention the guppies that were bought with them... People don't understand that they'll nod and smile there and say anything is a good combo just to move it.

I just see so much stupid, dumb crap going on. Experiencing a fish order coming in, as well, is rather traumatizing the first time. Picking out the dead. Watching fish crash. Losing an entire bag of a certain type of fish... Fish are a commodity that are farmed and produced over in Asia just the same as some of the clothing you're probably wearing. (Hopefully you're wearing clothing. :lol: )

The best is now when people come in with their kids telling me they need an extremely low maitenance, easy to care for fish that their kids can handle taking care of... Often I shoot back the response that I'd like an extremely low maitenance, easy to care for kid that I'm capable of taking care of. They often give me an odd look. But I just don't care... I explain to people that they are taking a life into their hands and that if they're not prepared to give it the proper care they shouldn't bother. Maybe a video game would be better entertainment for their kids or even them.

But you do get the people who equate fish and small animals to a dollar value... And it's sad. But quite ofte you can't change people's views.

I also strongly disagree with bringing a pet into a household where not everyone likes it - whether it be fish or dogs. There should be a consensus. I've run into issues at work, like yesterday, where the mother and kids love the fish and the father makes an off-hand comment about flushing them while they're all gone to school/work one day and says he really hates them. I also don't believe kids are capable of taking care of a pet. There are better ways to teach a child responisibility without putting a living thing in their hands... Get them to help take care of a family pet long before they ever get anything of their own.

Anyway. I'm just ranting now.

[aidensmomma2000]

"say anything is a good combo just to move it."

I think the people at Walmart just honestly have no clue. They arent trained, and usually is someone paged over from another department.

[mseguin]

Well that's the Walmart way. You take ur own risk no matter what department you shop in.

[Mettle]

"say anything is a good combo just to move it."

I think the people at Walmart just honestly have no clue. They arent trained, and usually is someone paged over from another department.

I know for a fact (from an 'inside' and reliable source') that the person responsible for managing the pet department of the Barrhaven location is completely inept. But I don't want to go slandering now.  :roll:

[BigDaddy]

I know for a fact (from an 'inside' and reliable source') that the person responsible for managing the pet department of the Barrhaven location is completely inept. But I don't want to go slandering now.  :roll:

Actually, Mettle, this is print... so its libel   :lol:

[Mettle]

I should know that, being a law student and all.  :lol:  But in my defense, it's Legal Studies (society & law) and my second major is Human Rights, so I concentrate more on international stuff, heh.

[mseguin]

If you're in Human Rights u should know a lot about Walmart Human Resources :-)

[Mettle]

That I know about.    :lol:

[darkdep]

I also strongly disagree with bringing a pet into a household where not everyone likes it - whether it be fish or dogs. There should be a consensus. I've run into issues at work, like yesterday, where the mother and kids love the fish and the father makes an off-hand comment about flushing them while they're all gone to school/work one day and says he really hates them. I also don't believe kids are capable of taking care of a pet. There are better ways to teach a child responisibility without putting a living thing in their hands... Get them to help take care of a family pet long before they ever get anything of their own.

I feel I need to comment on this.

In my house, we have two dogs (Bichon-Maltese and a Yorkie) and 50+ fish.  Honestly, if I had the choice, the dogs would be gone before I could finish this post.  So I AM the guy you just described.  But, in my case, my wife has always wanted her "little white dog".  I told her I wasn't into it, at ALL, but I also felt it wasn't right for me to deny her.  So, we made a deal that we were allowed to get pets as long as we maintain them.  I would agree that in an ideal world everyone in the house would love all pets, but it's just not always the case.  I can probably guarantee that the reason the guy you're describing said he hates the fish is because of one reason:  the wife and kids don't maintain the tank and force him to do it (I would put money on this!!).  Otherwise, it simply doesn't make sense for him to hate them.

As far as the child-responsibility thing, IMHO it depends on the kid.  I have seen some incredibly responsible children, that maintain their pets with love and zeal.  But, I've also seen my kids.   :lol: