Walmart’s retail aquarium fish operations under fire from public, employees By Sabrina Golmassian
The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, is being targeted by animal rights activists, consumer advocates, and even some of its own associates who say that deplorable conditions in store pet department aquariums constitute animal abuse.
Despite discontinuing sales of live fish and other aquatic creatures in several hundred stores in 2007 due to consumer demand, Walmart continues to sell them and other aquatic creatures in the majority of its stores worldwide.
Animal rights activists say Walmart should hang up its fins for good as evidence of neglect continues to surface online.
Concerned customers have logged on to Internet networking sites such as
Facebook and YouTube to upload video and photos of dead or dying fish and
other aquatic creatures living in dirty tanks, some feeding off the
decomposing bodies of deceased fish, apparently without any intervention
from Walmart associates.
Online petitions continue to gather signatures
in the thousands, and complaint forums online such as those at ConsumerAffairs.com
have entries dating back to 2006 describing horrible conditions for the
retailer’s fish and aquatic creatures.
Walmart fish suffering from dropsy (Photo - Sabrina Golmassian)
One entry
reads, “Yet again the Walmart pet departments’ ill treatment of fish
strikes again. Was in the store today and saw several of the tanks had
several dead fish in various stages of decomp. Some of the crabs in the
tank were feeding off the dead fish. It was disgusting.”
Animal
control officers reported to a Nevada Walmart store, which temporarily
suspended sales in their aquatic department after a disease epidemic
swept through the aquarium systems, killing and infecting many of their
fish, the store’s assistant manager told AnimalBeat.org on condition of
anonymity.
An associate of the store (who also wishes to remain
anonymous) told AnimalBeat.org that she and fellow associates must “rely
on information brought from home by employees who have fish tanks.” She
said that “vendors only come in once a month [to assess the aquariums
for any problems],” and was unsure when the fish at her location would
be seen or whether they would receive medical treatment.
That raises questions for Dr. Christopher Yach, a veterinarian for
Mandalay Bay Shark Reef. “Vendors
are not fish experts, don’t confuse the two… How often you have an
expert come in depends on how good your system is. Once a month [is
fine] if it is a purring, well run machine and the people working there
[are knowledgeable].”
However, many Walmart associates are far
from being knowledgeable aquarists. Some of the most damaging complaints
seem to come from Walmart associates themselves, who have also taken to
online forums such as TrueInsider.com,
anonymously voicing concerns about their own lack of training as well as
a ubiquitous policy of neglect from management.
"I told my manager that while I didn't know how to [clean tank and replace a UV light], there were various binders and manuals… I brought it up [to] the DM [who said] "oh really? I didn't even know we had that or the book!" She's been there 3 years and I've been there a week... kind of sad.
"The pod-manager agrees that the tanks look nasty but takes the DM to her word. It seems that all the associates agree that they wouldn't trust their own store's fish.’”
One associate laments the neglect from an aquarist’s perspective: “’I really hate to see the tanks like that, especially as a hobby fish keeper myself. There's no excuse for it, especially when the tank system should be ‘self-maintained.’ I believe it's embarrassing, as an associate who recommends fish and sells fish supplies, to hear about the grotesque condition of the tanks.’”
Dr. Elliott Katz, chairman and founder of In Defense of Animals, says that Walmart is sending a negative message to its customers. “For [Walmart] to allow their employees to be so irresponsible that people would complain to authorities and circulate petitions suggests a callousness from the top levels of management; and the injustice to live fish and live beings sends a message of cruelty to customers [with regard to] all the live beings they bring into their homes.”
Dr. Yach says that Walmart should emphasize education for its associates and a higher quality of care for the fish. “In the end, Walmart has to make a decision whether to do a better job or stop doing it.”
Guest writer Sabrina Golmassianis a
freelance journalist and animal welfare advocate who has written for
numerous publications including the Boston Globe and 944 Magazine.
Her
semi-autobiographical novel, which includes more than a few references
to our animal friends, will be published next year.
She
spends her free time volunteering at Shiloh Horse Rescue in California,
and shares her home with four beautiful rescued feline companions
When asked for comment, Walmart Senior Manager, PR and Brand Reputation, Christi Davis Gallagher, APR, replied via email as follows:
“Thank you for contacting us for inclusion in your story. We apologize that we are unable to participate in your story at this time, but encourage you to contact us again in the future.”
