It took a few days, but PetSmart finally responded after a video was posted on social media that claimed to show live goldfish swimming in a bag that had been chucked in a store’s garbage bin. The chain apologized to customers, saying an employee didn’t realize any of the fish were still alive.

A Michigan woman posted the 30-second video on Facebook over the weekend, saying in the caption that a friend had sent it to her. In the video, the bag full of water and fish is sitting in what looks like a mostly empty garbage bin, apparently behind the PetSmart, and is tied shut. Though there are definitely a lot of dead fish, there are also some very much alive little guys. Many of the thousands of commenters on the video were angry that live fish were tossed out.

“I’d post that video to their main facebook page so the world can see what the workers do to the fish,” one wrote.

“How sad…I never thought people would be abusive to fish,” another said.

“A corporation whose business is selling to people who own, love and adore their pets (even fish!) do not need this! We shop at Petsmart. Rethinking that!!!!” yet another commenter replied.

A corporate communications manager for the chain said it was all a big mistake, and the company is looking into things.

“Upon investigation we learned an associate accidentally discarded a bag of goldfish that had just arrived at the store and appeared to all be deceased,” she told MLive.com. “When a customer noticed the mistake, an associate was able to recover the few live fish and place them into a tank. We regret the mistake and are reviewing our policies to avoid future errors.”

The woman who posted the video said the business’ focus should be on the treatment of animals, calling the incident “unacceptable.”

“I truly hope this a wake up call to the store,” she said. “I can only pray there will be more accountability in the future.”

PetSmart responds after Facebook video shows live fish in dumpster [MLive.com]

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