Fish Welfare

I have just stumbled into the local pet shop in Secunda. Like all small town pet shops, their main focus is on the land loving creatures. The first time I set foot into the place, I was quite shocked. EVERY tank had 2 or more dead fish in it and beta splendens being kept in plastic jars, 50% of them floaters. When I spoke to the care takers, it was apparent that they did not have a clue...

Imagine a whole tank of clown loaches (~8) and they all die, from a business point of view that would make the guy doing the books lift a brow right? Aside from not supporting them, is there something the general public can do to stop this bad practice? Will the SPCA investigate or is a LPS small fry?

 

Get the owners phone number, offer to clean the tanks for them. take fish out the dead fish and through them away, give present care takers a lesson in fish keeping 101 .

 

I have tanks of my own? Why will I offer my services, my current job pays enough thank you...The onus of keeping a healthy environment for livestock lies with the owner, not its customer.

 

Fair enough maybe the care takers dont have a clue what they are doing thats why i also said get owners number.

 

You can complain to the SPCA. It is their duty to make sure that all animals are well looked after. Good luck.

 

Even better i would phone the spca while i was standing in the shop.

 

sometime the pet shop recieves bad stock. Its difficult for the shop staff to care for poor fish supplied to them. They don't know much

 

lol, it seems you havent visited petmasters in pta yet... only 2 fish dead per tank, pshaw, thats nothing compared...

but their problem, i think, is the tanks have no filtration mediums at all

 

Well, I made a trip to Boksburg and visited three shops. Of those three shops I would highly recommend Exotic Aquariums and Pets. No dead fish, alright plant health (albeit small selection) and their expanded marine section is AWESOME. I will definitely support them in the future. 130 km drive is nothing if I know that I am getting healthy live stock.

Best way to influence a bad shop is to hit it where it hurts, don't support them anymore. And yes, I gladly give away R500 when I am shopping at a LFS, so it will have an impact. Further than that, word of mouth should be a good deterrent.