# Petco and animals - should I have complained? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309 "2015-12-03T14:55:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/21 "2015-12-03T18:43:19Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Also, I’m a bit sensitive about being accused of being an “animal rights wacko”. don’t want to make a fuss about something that might be completely normal or acceptable but I’m ignorant of. If there’s ever a moment to pull up your animal rights pants and make a god damn noise, it’s when you’re standing in a room full of dead animals. I don’t even understand how you might think that maybe all these dead fish were perfectly normal. Not only should you contact corporate, you should get back down there with your cellphone and make a fuss until hell won’t have it. Even if the situation has improved, you should still make a scene with the manager so that he’s aware that he can’t hide his fishpocalypse from the public. There’s simply no excuse for a pet store that doesn’t provide reasonable care for the animals in its control. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/22 "2015-12-03T18:59:35Z")
Maybe he runs a puppy mill at home also. More people are into animal cruelty than you know about. Way more. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/23 "2015-12-03T20:12:10Z")
Were the fish actually dead as in “belly-up, floating at the top of the cup” or were they just not moving? Because they really don’t move much in those tiny cups. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/24 "2015-12-03T20:21:41Z")
Yeah, actually only a few were belly up, a few were sideways, and most were just not moving. Not even their fins, so they looked dead to me. But maybe they weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/25 "2015-12-03T20:58:26Z")
Well, they shouldn’t have been sideways, or belly-up, but, unlike a lot of other fish, bettas actually do spend a fair amount of time sitting still and sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/26 "2015-12-04T01:13:55Z")
The lifespan of a betta in captivity is generally given as 2 years, with 5 years on the outside, with very good hygiene and frequent water changes with filtration. My longest lived fella lived 7 years in a bowl I rarely remembered to do changes in. My shortest lived was 3 weeks in a filtered luxury fish condo. Go figure. There’s a lot of debate among betta owners over the size of the tank and the filter/no filter question. I’ve honestly found bettas to do better in smaller tanks - not cup sized small, but a gallon or two. As for filters, they need a very, very gentle filter, if any filter at all. Any filter with a spout or “waterfall” feature is too much. They exhaust themselves fighting the current it creates. My current betta, [Ron Burgundy](https://www.flickr.com/photos/9460062@N07/23209285700/in/dateposted-public/), is actually doing well in a 10 gallon, which is a wee bit overstocked with 4 platys and a tiny grumpy upside down catfish. I have a ton of plants in there as well. The filter is very gentle, the biofilter well established, and I still forget to perform water changes more often than not. I’m so glad I read about your betta’s breakdown, **Anaamika**! I was just beginning to seriously consider getting Ron a girlfriend, but I think I’m going to leave well enough alone. Hopefully Sultan and his harem of girl platys will get frisky soon and make some fry for our entertainment (and Ron’s snacktime enjoyment). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/27 "2015-12-04T01:32:06Z")
They were just sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/28 "2015-12-04T02:05:46Z")
My local Petco has some ghastly looking bettas although the animals there seem to be generally taken of, going from what I’ve seen when I’m in the store. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/29 "2015-12-04T02:24:45Z")
Ron Burgundy is beautiful! I had a little betta for about four years in a gallon tank with partial water changes about once a week. He was such a personable guy. He even came up to the top to be gently petted with a fingertip. **JcWoman** , if they really were dead, that’s the time to use your animal rights wacko-ness in the most glorious fashion possible. I would be sending emails and all over social media. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/30 "2015-12-04T08:31:09Z")
My store sells fish and once in awhile Something Happens. Like the time a toddler gave the fish a “drink” of his pop. Poor fish. But that affected only one tank, not the whole lot of them. Actually, every morning we have someone check the tanks for dead fish and remove them, as well as other housekeeping duties like making sure the pumps and stuff are working. If you’re in a pet store or other location that sells animals and you see a dead, sick, or injured animal _tell someone_, and if that person doesn’t seem to give a shit find the manager or yes, call corporate. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309/31 "2015-12-04T10:28:58Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > They were just sleeping. One of the few times a Monty Python type of comment… could actually be true. This and when horses are sleeping on their sides. Or cows on their sides. But you don’t see that very often. Because they hear you coming and get more worried than horses do. > **[do cows sleep lying down? – Farm The Start…](https://farmthestart.wordpress.com/tag/do-cows-sleep-lying-down/)** > > Posts about do cows sleep lying down? written by Farm the Start [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petco-and-animals-should-i-have-complained/739309.md?page=1)