# We all ought to boycott Petsmart! VENT



## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

I just cannot believe what I saw the other day. Sure, I've purchased fish in Petsmart before, but it was only because my LFS and Petco didn't have what I wanted (Otos) and I did rescue a couple of bettas there too. (The Otos, by the way, turned out to have ick, and two of the four died after I'd had them for only 2 days).

Anyway, on the day in question, there was a tank with a dead fish in the back, another tank that had some serious algae going on, then another tank where some large danios were eating a dead Danio that was over half gone, so you know it had to have been dead for some time to have been eaten on that much, and for an employee not to have noticed it? Give me a break. But the worst was when I was looking at the bettas (I was there to get a breeder, and couldn't help looking--you know how that is) there was a dead betta in one of those little jars! The woman who worked there saw me holding up the jar looking at it, and she said, "Oh, looks like that one didn't make it." Then she took the jar from me when I handed it to her and put it back on the display with the other bettas! I'm not kidding. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. If she was too busy, she could have at least put it under a shelf or something until she could get around to disposing of it, but she puts it right back where the public can see it!

Its obvious to anyone that Petsmart is making money hand over fist. Look at all the commercials they run on TV, all the customers they have, how high priced they are. Can't they afford to hire a few more employees to keep up on these *very* important things?

If we all stopped going to Petsmart (I know Petco can be just as bad, from what I've heard, but my local one isn't) they would be forced to go out of business. Its just ridiculous that they can't even take the very minimum care of their fish, not to mention how bad a filthy tank looks to the public. Their emphasis in their commercials is always concern for animals and their comfort. Well, I guess fish don't qualify! Sorry, that's my vent for the day.


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

It will never happen since they sell other pet supplies at a cheaper price than most places.


----------



## Krymsyn (Apr 6, 2012)

Surprisingly, the Petsmart here in wichita has some of the best tank's ive seen in a while, including my old LFS in Ohio, and since there's only Petsmart, Petco and Petland here thats freshwater, and the utter lack of fish only stores, i was quite shocked when i went in there.


----------



## oneye (Mar 25, 2012)

My petsmart here is alot better than petco and close to as good as lfs


----------



## FishFlow (Sep 13, 2011)

Eh, IME, it really depends on the store manager, and / or the employee/s assigned to the area. Some of my big box stores fish departments are very nice. While some of the smaller owned lfs look like garbage.

My local Pet Smarts fish seem fine. Tanks are always clean.


----------



## mestar (Nov 17, 2011)

My petsmart is always really clean! I talk to many of the employees who take care of the tanks and they are trying real hard to keep things clean and take care of the fish, birds, etc...


----------



## straydog (May 14, 2011)

Petsmart is a large corporation, but it can't see everything that is going on. Talk with a manager about your concerns. If this doesn't work have them give you the information to get intouch with the corporate office in Arizona. Large companies don't know there is a problem till they are informed.


----------



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Really, the issue with the large corporate pet stores is their effect on what is available to us - they buy in bulk and all carry more or less the same species. Their centralized purchasing leaves aquarists with easy access to way fewer options than they had even a decade or two ago. That's corporate commerce for you.
Dead fish and one dirty store in Northern California tell me not to buy at that individual store. As much as possible, I try to support independent operators and local breeders - it's where the interesting and healthy fish are. The Petcorporations, whatever their name, are killing the hobby with dullness. 
Convenience always wins.


----------



## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

Sadly you still had a reletivly good experiance IMO. I went in my LFS for the last time the other day because they said they had some new fish I may be interested in. What I found was 6 dead fish between 10 tanks, 2 tiger oscars that were so emaciated I could see the bones in thier heads. One large angel fish had a gill desease so bad that the gills covering was pushed 1/4" away from it's body. I don't have a petsmart in this area, but I do have a petco with the usual problems but it is still better than my LFS


----------



## fishnjeeps (Nov 11, 2011)

I've personally have never had an issue with Petsmart. Petco I have as their fish are usually dead or dieing as are their rodents. Petsmart has always been willing to order things I've been looking for and their employees are fairly knowledgeable as well. (at least by me they are) Anytime I do see a dead fish (and It happens to the best of stores) they have always pulled it out and taken care of it immediately. I've ordered 4 rats from Petsmart and they got exactly what I've asked for. They are all healthy now and I've never even had an issue of them getting sick. Many of the fish I'v bought are still alive after years.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The only difference between the mentioned Petsmart and any other is they were behind in removing dead fish. Go in at the wrong time and you will see dead in many tanks in any Petsmart accross the country. They just usually keep them pretty clean of the dead and it looks like a healthy tank. If you don't think that is true, you're being just a little naive.


----------



## jimsz (Oct 11, 2011)

Did you speak with the department manager? Store manager? District manager?

Just because they have 1 or 2 stupid employees does not mean they are a bad company - it means they have issues in this store.

In my area, petsmart is the only store I will buy fish at. There are no other stores than chains stores and Petco has constantly dirty tanks and fish from pet supplies plus always die.


----------



## Subaru4wd (May 6, 2011)

Have you ever seen wal-marts fish department?? That place is sad! 

You can forget about your experience, its not typical at every petsmart. There are 2 petsmarts near my house and both of them have a great staff. If you have issues with your petsmart, you should voice your concern with the management.


----------



## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

I will be sure to speak to management next time I see something like that. I guess I was more or less in shock. I'm definitely NOT naive--I'm 56, and was a vet tech for 12 years, so I've seen it all, believe me. It just irked me that employees would be able to get away with such negligence. I realize that fish are going to die--its just the apparent lack of caring and compassion that bothers me. People are prone to getting hardened after working with animals for a long time, some much more than others. Still no excuse for what I saw though. 

On the up side, they are great about having puppies from the local animal control available and up for adoption in playpens, and their rodents always look great and very active--cages always clean. They are always happy to help customers find what they need. Its just that you would think they would hire employees for the fish dept. who have just a little more knowledge and COMPASSION. Navigator Black is so right about the convenience always wins comment. How true is that!

Oh, and yes, I've seen the Walmart fish section! I stay as far away from there as possible! You're right--its really sad.


----------



## cat_dude (Apr 24, 2012)

Amen, brother. The 2 times I got fishes from petsmart (and didnt have a quarantine tank so had to put them into the one tank I had then), ICH!

I lost 4 total of my previous fish and the petsmart fishes died eventually.

My LFS.. golden! They may be a lil far and more expensive, but I like my tank clean and my fishes alive


----------



## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

I usually stick to my two LFS for fish livestock, but the Petco and Petsmart stores near me are usually fairly well maintained. There's the occasional sick fish, but then again I don't expect them to have as high quality fish as the LFS since their stock is usually from cheaper sources.

That said, every company has it's good points and bad points as they get larger. I love how both Petco and Petsmart bring in adoption agencies for their cats and dogs (and even ferrets on occasion), and they carry a good variety of high quality cat and dog food for cheap. They also have trainers that are up to date on the latest positive reinforcement methods that have helped my puppy mill rescue dog improve dramatically. These points make it unrealistic and a little silly for me to go on a full out boycott. I just avoid buying any of their fish products/livestock and let their department sales breakdown speak for itself.


----------



## Jareth (Apr 25, 2012)

I recently went to Walmart and its just sad :/


----------



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

If you dig deep enough, you can find info on where they all get their fish. For instance, big box stores will get their fish from the same whole seller that is closest to their area. If you have a walmart and petsmart in the same town. Walmart orders their fish through petsmart since petsmart orders larger quanities than walmart so they get into the cheaper prices.

I have found that it doesn't do much good to go to store manager in these situations but emailing corporate does help. As a couple of examples Petco here was one nasty store, it was so bad that the store smelled like a sewer. Complained to manager, nothing happened. Emailed corporate and within the week the store had a new manager and new crew, within the month the store was clean and tanks were looking healthy.

Once a month I send emails to Bentonville, headquarters for Walmart. If the tanks look bad they hear about it, in turn they go to the manager of that store and make them straighten it out. If the fish section remains looking good, they get an email on that. It has become a monthly habit for me to send them emails on the condition of those tanks. So far it has worked and that Walmarts fish dept, stays decent enough that I have bought a few fish and plants there.


----------



## thenightgoddess (May 3, 2012)

Im offended that you are generlizing that one petsmart to every petsmart. I work at a petsmart in the petcare department. We pull dead or sick fish out of the tanks every morning and night and usually if we see them during the day and we are not busy. Also the tanks get scrubbed and gravel vacced on a cycle every weeks so they all get done once a week. If you see algea in the tank its probably only a couple days or a weeks worth you cant expect us to scrub every tank every day it takes a 4 or 5 hours just to do that days worth in between customers. Its normal to have some fish die we tell people its better to come get fish later in the week because we get our fish in on mondays and usually all the sick ones die after a couple days. We also take any dead or sick fish back for 14 days after you buy it so if you do end up losing fish because they were sick when you bought them we will either replace them or give you a refund. There is no way we can not have some sick fish in our stores. We get alot of people that come in and tell us we are alot better then petco and we know alot more about the animals and products we sell.


----------

