Dear Editor:
I really appreciated the letter printed a few weeks back talking about issues with pets sold in 99 cent stores and in local pet shops (Letters to the Editor, Aug. 28 issue, available online at www.timesnewsweekly.com).
There was a request there that pet stores not give out fish on Halloween. I agreed with that and hoped it would make a difference.
To my surprise, the pet store on Fresh Pond Road still gave out the fish-hundreds of them. The workers brought them outside in large garbage pails, bag on top of bag. I watched for a few minutes-they gave them out without any type of information for their survival.
I have a fish tank and have bought fish-they must have a good amount of air to survive from the store to your home. That means the bag has to be tightly inflated and pressurized.
Many of the bags given out on Halloween were caving in and air had escaped.
The author of the previous letter said some people will say it is just a fish. Well, a pet store should want to make sure that a fish is cared for properly. Otherwise, why are they in business? This pet shop also keeps way too many birds in a cage. And the turtles look crammed in their containers by the counter.
Taken all together, I will no longer patronize this store. I want my pet store to show they care.
Leonore Nieves
Ridgewood
