A betta fish was sitting on the back of the shelf in Walmart, ignored and passed by, day in and day out. His future was looking grim – until one woman took notice, and decided to change his life.
The poor fish was in terrible condition, living its life in a tiny cup, sitting behind a “prettier” and more colorful betta fish. Its body was in dire condition – it had turned a sickly pale and had literally started to disintegrate and rot away.
Victoria Schild was shopping that day and certainly hadn’t planned on picking up any new pets at Walmart, but when she saw this sickly fish, her heart shattered into a million pieces. When she picked up the fish’s cup, pieces of its tail began to float to the surface.
“I felt incredibly sad for the little guy and decided that I didn’t want him to die in there, just rotting away,” Victoria told The Dodo. “I was 95 percent sure he was going to die that night.”
Victoria searched the store for a large, spacious fish tank, and brought it home – along with the desperate betta fish. She wasn’t sure how long that the little guy would survive, but she wanted his final hours to be as comfortable as possible, not on a dark shelf in a store.
Af first, the fish wasn’t doing very well, and Victoria was certain that he would be gone soon, but then – things seemed to take a turn for the better.
“When I got home, I started researching everything that I possibly could to help him recover, and probably within a week of clean warm water, medicine and basic care he started getting better!” she said.
After a week of recovery, the betta started to improve more and more. His tail started to grow back, and he began to slowly swim around his new home. However, Victoria had no idea just how beautiful this fish would turn out to be.
About four weeks after taking the sickly fish home, he is now almost completely recognizable. Victoria was stunned!
“I was really surprised,” she said. “I knew that, underneath it all, there was a beautiful little fish. But what won me over was his will to live and his spunk.”
The betta fish had certainly come a long way, and now that Victoria was confident he’d be around for a while, she decided to name him – Argo. Lots of love, care, and attention went into Argo’s recovery, and Victoria is just in awe of his tenacity.
“Now he’s an amazing little fish,” Victoria said. “I love watching him swim around, leap for food, follow my shadow and just be a cool little guy.”
Betta fish in stores like Walmart or other major chains might give people the wrong impression in thinking that their lives aren’t as important as other pets. However, Argo’s story clearly shows that’s not the case.
“It’s unfortunate that people dismiss bettas,” Victoria said. “With just basic care and a proper setup, they are great little pets to have. I hope Argo’s story can bring awareness to the plight of bettas and other fish in pet stores. We need to be their voices.”
We hope that Argo has lots of fun swimming around his new home for many days to come.
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