Walked pass this little authentic fish shop near my work place the other day. The twinkle of sun light reflecting on those glass bottles caught my attention. After speaking to the shop owner, I decided to get a betta fish myself and here I introduce Norry.
Norry is a blueish red half moon betta, really cool colors but a friendly personality - Not quite good as a betta but I dont plan to place him for any tournaments so its perfectly fine with me.
I learnt to know that the ancestors of Norry really lead a pitiful and hard life. Betta fish owners dont really treasure them as a living fish, and in fact, most of them are seen as a tool to fight and win some bets over the gambling table.
They will keep them in small tiny bottles and hide them in the darkest closet they can find in their house. No feeding for at least 2 weeks and the poor betta will have to survive on eating up his own waste. This reminds me of the refuges during Japanese war time - whats the difference anyway?
When the pitiful betta is poured into the battle tank, he sees his opponent as his feeding food instead of some same species friends which end up tearing each other apart.
The worst is after the battle, the losers go home with some disappointed and angry owner who flush them down the bowl or some random drain.
No one look at betta as they are a kind of fish who is just fighting to live everyday.
Can people just have a little more love for animals in their heart?
They are just too adorable and innocent to be hurt without any reason, and most importantly, when you can prevent that to happen?