Working for Petco.......

[DFishFox]

Companies caring about $$$ over animal welfare by selling fish to a bad situation is dumb politics from the start. These companies usually have guarantees where people can exchange a dead fish body for a new one. So if the fish goes to a bad setup or bad tank mates.. its likely going to die from one thing or another.. usually stress..
So how many replacements do you give out before realizing fish profit is going down the drain?

However, like someone mentioned earlier in the thread.. no one likes to be told no. I personally can't stand it when an employee asks me about what I'm doing with the fish. But that's because I know better. I've bought books and search my @$$ off online to find answers.

And I've gotta say.. Fish keeping is a $*** Ton more complicated than having a dog or cat.. When you adopt a Dog or Cat there is often paperwork, verification you can house it where you live.. etc... Why the F isn't there ANYTHING for fish??? I went to Petsmart to buy a small mouse to FEED my Morph Rat Snake.. Guess what, they made me sign a piece of paper for it.
I was like uh.. you know this thing is going to DIE in less than 30 minutes right? Still had to sign.
Point is.. I don't understand why there isn't a similar effort for fish??
I mean c'mon how hard is it to print sheets that have information about the different aspects one should be concerned with when keeping?
In order of importance such as...
TANK SIZE.
WATER: PH, temp, filtration, aeration, changes
FISH: Compatibility, quantity

At least some bullet points to initial off and recognize the details need/require attention for the successful management of an aquarium. Otherwise IMO its like selling dogs and cats with no concern in shots or spay/neutering..

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

Companies caring about $$$ over animal welfare by selling fish to a bad situation is dumb politics from the start. These companies usually have guarantees where people can exchange a dead fish body for a new one. So if the fish goes to a bad setup or bad tank mates.. its likely going to die from one thing or another.. usually stress..
So how many replacements do you give out before realizing fish profit is going down the drain?

However, like someone mentioned earlier in the thread.. no one likes to be told no. I personally can't stand it when an employee asks me about what I'm doing with the fish. But that's because I know better. I've bought books and search my @$$ off online to find answers.

And I've gotta say.. Fish keeping is a $*** Ton more complicated than having a dog or cat.. When you adopt a Dog or Cat there is often paperwork, verification you can house it where you live.. etc... Why the F isn't there ANYTHING for fish??? I went to Petsmart to buy a small mouse to FEED my Morph Rat Snake.. Guess what, they made me sign a piece of paper for it.
I was like uh.. you know this thing is going to DIE in less than 30 minutes right? Still had to sign.
Point is.. I don't understand why there isn't a similar effort for fish??
I mean c'mon how hard is it to print sheets that have information about the different aspects one should be concerned with when keeping?
In order of importance such as...
TANK SIZE.
WATER: PH, temp, filtration, aeration, changes
FISH: Compatibility, quantity

At least some bullet points to initial off and recognize the details need/require attention for the successful management of an aquarium. Otherwise IMO its like selling dogs and cats with no concern in shots or spay/neutering..

Agreed. They should have some free packets of information about fish/fish care and fish requirements for people who don't know as much as most of us do here.

 

[DFishFox]

Agreed. They should have some free packets of information about fish/fish care and fish requirements for people who don't know as much as most of us do here.

Or even better a near dummy terminal linked to the internet restricted to 6 - 10 websites with fish profiles. This way the person doesn't have to go home to do their homework and the company possibly lose a sale by them leaving.. But all go home happy knowing whats needs to be known.

 

[phillydog1958]

I can appreciate the OP's passion, but he did cost Petco several sales and was told not to do it again. It's OK to quit if you have philosophical differences with your employer. If you want to work for a specific company, do as they say, as long as it's legal and moral. Last time I checked, selling fish to people who don't know how to take care of them, is not a crime. Some would say that it's not even immoral, because unfortunately, most fish purcahsers end with a dead fish, anyway. I love the hobby, but I also understand big business. In a related point, think about how many breeders of cats and dogs, sell their goods and don't confirm that the pet is going to a good home. It's more difficult to adopt a pet, than is it to buy one, outright. The system is flawed.

 

[DFishFox]

Some would say that it's not even immoral, because unfortunately, most fish purcahsers end with a dead fish, anyway.

They end up dead because the person who bought them was ignorant and did SOMETHING wrong(Which reflects on What Need? Knowledge.) Putting a fish in a tank doomed to die is no different than frying small animals with a magnifying glass.. Yet you say its not a crime. Animal cruelty IS a Crime.

Your point to me sounds like this logic: Let's not worry about drivers license for our drivers cause most people crash at some point anyways.

 

[phillydog1958]

They end up dead because the person who bought them was ignorant and did SOMETHING wrong(Which reflects on What Need? Knowledge.) Putting a fish in a tank doomed to die is no different than frying small animals with a magnifying glass.. Yet you say its not a crime. Animal cruelty IS a Crime.

Your point to me sounds like this logic: Let's not worry about drivers license for our drivers cause most people crash at some point anyways.

I'd think it's fair to say that most gold fish that are purchased, end up dead. I'm also sure that some do live long lives, because some people try harder and put out the effort. If a person purchases a gold fish and places it in a bowl, and the gold fish dies, is that a crime due to cruelty? If you worked at Petco and sold that gold fish, are you an accessory to that crime? Of course not. This is not the same as beating or not feeding a puppy. Since when is logic superceded by emotion? And, last but not least, most people don't have auto accidents.

 

[Zoodiver]

I find it interesting how many people vent about chain petstores, and yet when they are there, they can't follow the rules of employement. Instead of trying to show up the store with 'knowlege' and doing the job, the store was shown another person who can't follow orders and flies off the handle when pulled into an office.

 

[kamikaziechameleon]

Pet smart (sorry for the shift in store) is interesting I had a situation where I wanted to buy a leaf fish to go in my tank but because I kept the tank pure fresh (like the store tank it was in ) that voided my warranty of 2 days, needless to say the fish lived for over 3 yrs and jumped to its death after I moved home from college it was over 6 inches long when it died as opposed to the less than 1 when I got it. I asked to watch feeding and was privileged to see them throwing weekend feeders into all their tanks, sometimes missing the top tanks(they were literally throwing them) and denying the fish what little benefit was in those blocks of calcium. Oh my how poor a setup is a chain petstore.

 

[DFishFox]

I'd think it's fair to say that most gold fish that are purchased, end up dead. I'm also sure that some do live long lives, because some people try harder and put out the effort. If a person purchases a gold fish and places it in a bowl, and the gold fish dies, is that a crime due to cruelty? If you worked at Petco and sold that gold fish, are you an accessory to that crime? Of course not. This is not the same as beating or not feeding a puppy. Since when is logic superceded by emotion? And, last but not least, most people don't have auto accidents.

I'd like you to go to Petco and ask how many gold fish (aside from feeders) they sell. They probably sell a 1 -2 per week. Many would say putting a betta fish in a bowl is animal cruelty. As a matter of fact. One of my books says it.
You cannot pick and chose what falls under animal abuse (which covers Neglect: i.e. Neglecting to provide adequate husbandry for the animal) because mistreatment is mistreatment. Funny how you pick the most remote example in fish.. where as the most frequent contributor to premature fish death (other than being eaten) is stress.. stress from being chased around by fish that came from another part of the world and shouldn't be housed together, stress from water conditions.. stress from something going on that the educated could've avoided. Sure no one is trying to tackle ignorant fish keepers because that's like trying to make sure everyone on this forum has a clean toilet.
My point is.. Adequate education is missing at the fish point of sale. An educated representative would help consumers from making dumb decisions that kill fish. An educated fish keeper has a much less likelihood in returning a dead body for another fish at no cost which ends up Costing the company more.

Oh yeah, I was about to copy and paste a boat load of auto accident statistics but I realized it would be sufficient to say it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that MOST people crash(in auto accident) whether at fault or not, fender bender or major, at least one time in their life. Excluding the population that never reached a driving age because they're killed as a passenger in an auto accident

 

[phillydog1958]

I'd like you to go to Petco and ask how many gold fish (aside from feeders) they sell. They probably sell a 1 -2 per week. Many would say putting a betta fish in a bowl is animal cruelty. As a matter of fact. One of my books says it.
You cannot pick and chose what falls under animal abuse (which covers Neglect: i.e. Neglecting to provide adequate husbandry for the animal) because mistreatment is mistreatment. Funny how you pick the most remote example in fish.. where as the most frequent contributor to premature fish death (other than being eaten) is stress.. stress from being chased around by fish that came from another part of the world and shouldn't be housed together, stress from water conditions.. stress from something going on that the educated could've avoided. Sure no one is trying to tackle ignorant fish keepers because that's like trying to make sure everyone on this forum has a clean toilet.
My point is.. Adequate education is missing at the fish point of sale. An educated representative would help consumers from making dumb decisions that kill fish. An educated fish keeper has a much less likelihood in returning a dead body for another fish at no cost which ends up Costing the company more.

Oh yeah, I was about to copy and paste a boat load of auto accident statistics but I realized it would be sufficient to say it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that MOST people crash(in auto accident) whether at fault or not, fender bender or major, at least one time in their life. Excluding the population that never reached a driving age because they're killed as a passenger in an auto accident

^TALKING ABOUT ANIMAL CRUELTY, MY FURTHER PARTICIPATION IN THIS THREAD IS SENSELESS . . . THIS IS LIKE BEATING A DEAD HORSE, NO PUN INTENDED.