WalMart fish are not properly handled, taken care of, or maintained. There is no mandatory regulations, and the 'aquariums' are much too small. They are not checked regularly. Today, in our local store where I am unfortunately an employee, two small children pointed a group of dead fish out to me. I'm not talking a few here or there, I'm talking a cluster of 100+ dead gold fish in a single aquarium, not to mention the other rotting, dead fish in other aquariums. The aquariums were over filled and the filters were not properly attached either. Furthermore, two poor children, who must have been around six years old were the only ones to notice due to their height.
As unfortunate as that is, it gets worse. WalMart's disposal of the dead fish involves counting their lost profit (how many died) and then throwing the dead fish away in the trash. Not a special trash can at that even, but a trash can on the floor where there are customers and children (electronics of all places), with an ill-advised verbal warning for us associates that the trashcan is going to smell awful because of the dead, rotting fish.. There is no effort to determine WHY the fish died, whether it was from starvation, shock, or disease. The other fish weren't quarantined. Nothing was done to determine why 100+ fish died. This is not sanitary or even decent human nature.
UPDATE:
As of Friday, I personally myself pulled another 152 dead goldfish out of the SAME small tank. That means there was at least 252 goldfish (plus the ones still alive) in the same tank. I personally volunteered to do this to see just how bad the conditions were. They were absolutely disturbing. I'm talking fish that have been stuck in there so long that they decayed into one lump of 'flesh' with four tails. Bones in the bottom of the tank from fish that were left to completely decompose. Fish eating the other dead fish. Brown stuff growing on the bottom of the tank, stuff growing on the fish in the tank that are both alive and dead, the over-crowded tank is nasty. This is unacceptable. I don't even know if the fish are being fed, I don't think management even cares to actually ensure they are being properly cared for, if they did, this would not be occuring. These are also sold as feeder fish, not just pets. There was also a male beta fish that had clearly been dead for quite sometime, the water he was in was yellow. To make matters worse, the nets to capture and remove the fish were not being disinfected at all. The sink station next to the tanks is filthy, and dead fish are usually found in the sink. PLEASE share this far and wide, contact groups that fight for animals, let them know. Visit your own local WalMarts and document how the fish are living, they may only be fish but cruelty is cruelty.
Dear Sam Walton Family-
The objective of this petition is for you to remove fish as part of your merchandise. These are living, water-breathing creatures that are not getting the proper care they need. They are being forced to live in a tank much too small and much too over crowded, and they are not managed well at all, if it's happening in one store, it's happening in others. This is not sanitary for the fish or the people around them. There isn't even a decent way to dispose of dead fish, as our policy requires them to go in claims, or to have the SKU's and quantity written down and put into the claims bins and the fish are thrown in the trash. How many people become ill from this? The tanks are filthy enough for waterborne disease and virus's. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. STOP THE SALES OF FISH IN ALL WALMART STORES AND LEAVE IT TO THE PROFESSIONALS.
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