Earlier this evening, my wife, daughter and I went to Walmart in search of cheap patterns and fabric for my wife's sewing business.
They sell fish at this store, so I took my daughter to watch the goldfish swim around awhile.
We were shocked when we saw that this store had clown knives and what appear to be royal clowns.
The fish had no where to hide, were seriously stressed and very, very starved. My wife, who loves clowns, was nearly in tears, it was that bad.
When we finally hunted down someone to help us, the poor girl had no idea about fish of any sort and was afraid to even put her hand in the water. She thought it was gross. However, she was in charge of selling fish and educating their purchasers!
When we started speaking to her about the clowns(there were at least 10 in the tiny holding cell), and the fate of the poor gourami that was half shredded in there with them, she was upset. She had no idea what they should be eating, and was feeding them flake food intended for goldfish, as she had been instructed. When we showed her that they should be eating feeder fish, or a better quality flake/pellet food if they had been taught to do so, and showed her how terribly thin the fish were, she tried to do the right thing. She scooped up a net of feeders and put them in with the fish. I told her that they need places to hide, so she took decorations from the other tanks and put them in with the knives. She was so concerned; I honestly felt bad for the poor girl. She had me arrange the decorations, as she still couldn't touch the water. I said that I would pay for the feeder fish and she said that she wanted to pay for them. Either way, we would NOT have been stealing store inventory, which is how the situation would have been taken.
This is the part where things get bad.
My wife could not leave these guys to suffer. We had the girl scoop out 3, then planned to return once we had set up another 90 gallon to put them in. They are about 3-4" now, so it would be ok until we could figure out a plan. What else could we do?
As we continued to watch these poor fish, an assistant manager, who looked like she had just eaten something that tasted terrible, came over. The girl who had been helping us, Lisa, tried to tell the manager that something was wrong. Then, one of our clowns jumped out and hit the floor. My wife scooped him back up and got him in a safer place and demanded that they be bagged up immediately. They manager could not have been more patronizing or rude. She acted like we were complete idiots and told Lisa that she could not feed them live fish or do anything of the sort. Lisa again told her that these fish were going to die and begged her to look at how thin and unhealthy they were. The manager refused.
As soon as we walked away, the manager tore into Lisa telling her that she could never do any such thing under any circumstances. Lisa told her again that the fish were unhealthy and were going to die. The manager took an "It's not our problem" attitude and told Lisa that she was to scoop out every single fish, knowing that Lisa was afraid of the water, and that she would come back to check to see that it was done. Again, Lisa asked to just pay for the fish. The manager said that she could not.
We went back to the fish area to make sure the poor girl wasn't in trouble, and to look at what other fish were going to suffer the same fate. As soon as we did, the manager was right back there, eavesdropping on the conversation and, in a very belittling manner, asking Lisa if she was done removing the fish.
My wife pulled that manager aside and tried to politely let her know that it was not the girls fault and that the fish would be paid for. She let the manager know that she works in pet rescue, and that is is affiliated with people who can report this issue. The manager did not care. When my wife told the manager that these fish were going to die, the manager just said that the customer can bring back a receipt and get another fish. We told her that there wouldn't be any left to replace them and again tried to show her how sick and thin they were. She just stared at us with blank eyes and that terrible look on her face.
We are now scared that Lisa is going to get in trouble, or even fired, for just trying to do the right thing and that these poor knives are just going to be left there to starve!
Please, if you are interested and can help, PM me for the store location. We got the store managers name and number. We don't want this girl to get in trouble for doing the right thing, and we certainly don't want this manager to continue treating living beings in such a careless and heartless manner.
They sell fish at this store, so I took my daughter to watch the goldfish swim around awhile.
We were shocked when we saw that this store had clown knives and what appear to be royal clowns.
The fish had no where to hide, were seriously stressed and very, very starved. My wife, who loves clowns, was nearly in tears, it was that bad.
When we finally hunted down someone to help us, the poor girl had no idea about fish of any sort and was afraid to even put her hand in the water. She thought it was gross. However, she was in charge of selling fish and educating their purchasers!
When we started speaking to her about the clowns(there were at least 10 in the tiny holding cell), and the fate of the poor gourami that was half shredded in there with them, she was upset. She had no idea what they should be eating, and was feeding them flake food intended for goldfish, as she had been instructed. When we showed her that they should be eating feeder fish, or a better quality flake/pellet food if they had been taught to do so, and showed her how terribly thin the fish were, she tried to do the right thing. She scooped up a net of feeders and put them in with the fish. I told her that they need places to hide, so she took decorations from the other tanks and put them in with the knives. She was so concerned; I honestly felt bad for the poor girl. She had me arrange the decorations, as she still couldn't touch the water. I said that I would pay for the feeder fish and she said that she wanted to pay for them. Either way, we would NOT have been stealing store inventory, which is how the situation would have been taken.
This is the part where things get bad.
My wife could not leave these guys to suffer. We had the girl scoop out 3, then planned to return once we had set up another 90 gallon to put them in. They are about 3-4" now, so it would be ok until we could figure out a plan. What else could we do?
As we continued to watch these poor fish, an assistant manager, who looked like she had just eaten something that tasted terrible, came over. The girl who had been helping us, Lisa, tried to tell the manager that something was wrong. Then, one of our clowns jumped out and hit the floor. My wife scooped him back up and got him in a safer place and demanded that they be bagged up immediately. They manager could not have been more patronizing or rude. She acted like we were complete idiots and told Lisa that she could not feed them live fish or do anything of the sort. Lisa again told her that these fish were going to die and begged her to look at how thin and unhealthy they were. The manager refused.
As soon as we walked away, the manager tore into Lisa telling her that she could never do any such thing under any circumstances. Lisa told her again that the fish were unhealthy and were going to die. The manager took an "It's not our problem" attitude and told Lisa that she was to scoop out every single fish, knowing that Lisa was afraid of the water, and that she would come back to check to see that it was done. Again, Lisa asked to just pay for the fish. The manager said that she could not.
We went back to the fish area to make sure the poor girl wasn't in trouble, and to look at what other fish were going to suffer the same fate. As soon as we did, the manager was right back there, eavesdropping on the conversation and, in a very belittling manner, asking Lisa if she was done removing the fish.
My wife pulled that manager aside and tried to politely let her know that it was not the girls fault and that the fish would be paid for. She let the manager know that she works in pet rescue, and that is is affiliated with people who can report this issue. The manager did not care. When my wife told the manager that these fish were going to die, the manager just said that the customer can bring back a receipt and get another fish. We told her that there wouldn't be any left to replace them and again tried to show her how sick and thin they were. She just stared at us with blank eyes and that terrible look on her face.
We are now scared that Lisa is going to get in trouble, or even fired, for just trying to do the right thing and that these poor knives are just going to be left there to starve!
Please, if you are interested and can help, PM me for the store location. We got the store managers name and number. We don't want this girl to get in trouble for doing the right thing, and we certainly don't want this manager to continue treating living beings in such a careless and heartless manner.
