# Fish Rescue-Advantages and Disadvantages



## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I'm leaving this topic open for discussions, comments and suggestions. Please feel free to post your opinions but do not make any comments that are out of line or against the TOS.

I'm quoting below Bettababy's post which made an excellent point when rescuing a fish or any other aquatic creatures from your pet stores.



bettababy said:


> In the future, for anyone reading this post, I want to make it known that when you purchase a sick fish or any fish from unhealthy conditions, you are not really rescuing anything. What you are doing, in fact, is promoting the conditions in which you found it. You wonder how? A store spends money on fish to sell to the customers for a profit. They mark prices up 3 - 4 times the wholesale cost. The fish you pay $1 for likely cost them a quarter or less. The stores often provide bare minimum conditions to keep the fish until they are sold because everything they do for and give to the fish is something else they have to pay for, which brings their profit margin down. When they keep fish poorly, 1 of 2 things will happen. They will get stuck with a lot of fish that will die, costing them a lot of money, or people will come in and buy the fish as is, which gives them no reason to change their practices.
> Anyone who really wants to rescue the fish, there are things you can do to make a huge difference, while saving your money and many more than the 1 fish you may or may not be able to provide for your yourself. Complain! I don't know how many times I have said this... but complaining... making some noise, is one of the best ways to approach it. Tell these stores that you, a paying customer, will not give them your business until they raise their standards to a humane level. Complain to employees, but more so complain to management. Ask to speak to an owner, either in person, via phone or email... doesn't matter. Let these peopel know that we demand healthy and well cared for animals for sale, or we will take our business elsewhere. Then, the next best thing to do is walk away. Don't spend your money, don't contribute to the problem. These stores have to make money or they don't exist. If they start losing money they have to either quit selling that thing or fix the problem with why it doesn't sell.
> So the next time someone is tempted to rescue a sick fish, please remember this: you can save one and contribute to the death of how many others? or you can sacrafice one for the sake of how many in the future?


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