PetSmart: Replace Betta Fish holding cups with 1 gallon tanks, inform buyers of proper Betta care

Keeping Betta fish trapped inside tiny cups is cruel and inhumane. All living creatures deserve to live in adequate conditions, free from suffering at all times. They are not goods to be stored on a shelf in a tiny cup, unable to move, usually lying wilted on the bottom. These conditions affect the health of the Betta in many ways: increasing stress, lowering immunity, fin rot, loss of colour and often causing disease or premature death. Because the Bettas are normally not sold at the same rate that they are stocked, (think rows upon rows of dozens and dozens of Bettas at one time), they are often left to die in their cups before someone will take them home. When someone does take them home, they have brought home an animal that is likely sick and that will have a lower life expectancy.
As a for-profit store that is responsible for a large number of animals, PetSmart has an ethical obligation to their Betta fish to keep them in proper conditions. It is certainly within their power to install proper holding tanks, of a minimum of 1 gallon, with gravel and a plant. Many other pet stores use this system, and as a chain establishment, it’s disgraceful that PetSmart continues to be negligent. Click here to see an adequate pet store Betta set up.
PetSmart also needs to outline for customers the proper care guidelines for Betta fish. Largely due to the example that PetSmart is setting, along with misinformation, many people believe that Bettas can survive long term, or even like being kept in cramped spaces like vases or in some cases, the cup they came in. Informative signage as well as verbally reminding Betta purchasers about proper tank requirements would help change this problem.
I will personally no longer shop at PetSmart until the conditions for Betta fish are corrected. I encourage you to reflect on these helpless, trapped animals, and make the decision to stop supporting this practice as well.
To PetSmart, please do the right thing, and invest in a proper set up for your Betta fish.