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Betta fish, they are said to be one of the most beautiful fish in the pet industry and they are said to be the easiest to care for. All you need to do is just buy a betta from a pet store, the betta will be in a tiny cup and all you need to give is food. This is something people think is logical because they think fish do not need anything else than some water and food. That is what the shopkeeper will tell you. I remember, I was at my friend’s house, I saw this betta in a small cup like it was smaller than my hand. And when I asked him “Is this your betta’s permanent home?” He answered “Yes!” Moreover, I asked him “why are you keeping the betta in such a small cup?” He said, “That’s where they are supposed to live, ” the shopkeeper told me that. I was speechless, when did our species become so cruel?
Bettas are bred in facilities all around the world. And even those facilities, they are tortured and the living conditions are so horrible, they can’t be described in words. Moreover, after that, they are sent to pet stores all around the world, which is how they end up in tiny cups in your local pet shop. That is how this business works; they are ruthless, inhumane and selfish. Then we can get to the cup part, I drink glasses of water bigger than the amount of water in a betta’s cup, there is simply not enough water. Second, there is a lack of oxygen, so the fish can suffer a painful death of suffocation at any given time. Third, the water quality, since you can fit any plants or a filter into a tiny cup, ammonia and nitrates levels explode. Without the beneficial bacteria and/or the plants, the ammonia and nitrate levels pile up and eventually the fish dies because of a bad water quality. In high ammonia and nitrate levels, bettas develop a deadly disease called fin rot, where their fins rot off, many fish die because of this. 4th, there is no space the fish can even turn. So there is no exercise, the fish has no hiding spaces, no toys; it does not get any enrichment or exercise.
5th, you can’t always control the temperature of the water the betta is in. Therefore, if it is hot outside and cold inside, and then if a buyer comes and buys, it could die while the buyer is taking it to his/her home, the opposite is also true. So, what I’m trying to say is that a small cup is the worst place a betta can be in. One betta fish needs a five – gallon tank, with hiding spaces, plants, good water quality, a filter and a heater if required.
We need to work together to make sure that no betta has to suffer silently like this in a small cup. Governments need to ban this cruelty being done to bettas. Bettas are intelligent animals; they can feel pain and emotion just like us. We need to make sure no pet store is selling bettas in these small cups; we also need to shut down all facilities that are breeding bettas. We also have to make sure no customer keeps bettas in these small cups and gets the right information about these amazing fish. If we do all of this, one day we will have a world in which no betta will have to suffer in a cup and we will have saved millions of innocent lives.
