An old friend of mine summed up this mentality in people very well once
when he said...

"Fish are furniture."

He was joking with me at the time, but it seems to be the way a lot of
people view that goldfish or betta in a bowl.

James

"IDzine01" wrote in message
ups.com...
I hear this all the time. "I can't upgrade from 1 gallon to 5 gallons
because I can't afford it." While I fully appreciate not having a lot
of spare cash to spend I have little sympathy for someone who can't
dish out $5 to care for their pet properly. Whenever the discussion
arises I do what I can to point the person to money saving options.
Let's face it, few home aquarists are independently wealthy. Because of
this, however, there are dozens of brilliant money saving ideas out
there. $1 aquariums on Craigslist, free tanks on Freecycle and lots of
giveaways or auctions at local fish clubs. Let's not forget all the
do-it-yourself ideas generated by savvy hobbyists. The fact is, many of
these people aren't interested in a cheap upgrade. I give them 10
options and they have a reason why each one won't work. I don't know if
it's laziness or they purely don't care if their pet lives or dies.

The problem is too many people don't view fish as family pets to be
nurtured and cared for. If I went out and bought a horse I couldn't
afford you can bet the whole neighborhood would be in an uproar and the
police would be knocking down my door. Although, I suppose no one would
sell me the horse in the first place. I guess that goes back to the
problem with LFSs.