Am i the only one who thinks this is way too inhumane?

[Cara]

All living creatures deserve to be treated humanely. Why needlessly cause suffering?

 

[PotterWatch]

Nm, I'm not going to stick my nose in.

ladycrotalus, I do appreciate hearing a different way to dispose of a fish that may be more humane though!

 

[Bec]

I just strongly feel that all living things deserve to be treated with respect and flushing something while it is alive and breathing is not respectful. It is rude, cruel and inhumane. There are other options as mentioned above, pet stores would gladly take free fish that they could make money off of.

 

[ladycrotalus]

Quote:
You can get it at a drug store, its often sold as a tooth ache remedy.
Here are the steps for fish up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) in length:

1. Add tank water to a measuring cup or mixing bowl. Measure the amount of tank water you add to the cup or bowl and make a note of it. Place the fish in the container. If the fish is in a clear cup, place a dark towel around the cup to calm the fish.

2. Fill a small, clean jar or bottle with tank water, leaving some room at the top. You might use a baby food jar or pill bottle. Put 1 drop of clove oil in the jar or bottle, cap, and shake vigorously. The clove oil should emulsify, turning the water milky white.

Gently pour about 1/4 of this emulsified mixture into the fish's container. The fish will begin listing as it starts to fall asleep. Let the fish be for about 10 minutes.

The fish should be resting on the bottom of the tank when it has fallen asleep. It will look dead, but if you watch closely, its gills will be breathing once every few seconds. If after 10 minutes the fish is still rising off the bottom and swimming intermittently, retrieve the jar or bottle of emulsified clove oil, re-shake, and add the same dose to the fish's container. Wait again.

To euthanize with just the clove oil: Put the fish to sleep first as stated above, waiting 10 minutes for the fish to settle on the bottom. A lethal overdose of clove oil is 50 drops per gallon (3.78 liters), or 5x stronger than the initial dose that anesthetizes the fish. Using the same example, if the fish is in 3 gallons (11 liters) of tank water, the jar's lethal mixture will include 50 x 3 = 150 drops of clove oil. Administer it the same way, by first shaking the jar before adding the mixture to the fish's container.

Some places say after the fish is sleeping, to pour in some vodka to kill the fish but i think it burns the gills.

How do you know it's not just paralyzed and suffering?

Considering it is used for dental pain relief, im thinking that it blocks the pain receptors.
Vets use it when they do surgery on fish, as did someone else on a fish forum who needed to remove a tumor from an angelfish.

 

[chinbunny]

Quote:
Death by feeding live to animal is a much faster, and more humane way to die then suffocation, or slowly killed by chemicals.

 

[PotterWatch]

Quote:
Not all pet stores apparently. My son was given a fish from the grandma of one of his classmates in kindergarten (apparently she thought a live creature was a great end-of-year gift

). We didn't want it and none of the pet stores we called would take in fish for fear of contamination.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

OK...if you're worried about it being alive while flushing, why not bash it with a hammer before you flush?

I'm not trying to be gruesome, but it seems to me as though this would end the pain fast.

 

[cmjust0]

Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
And I'm living off of grass
And the drippings from my ceiling
It's okay to eat fish
'Cause they don't have any feelings

 

[agnes_day]

who has surgery done on their fish?

 

[thebritt]

No, OP, you are not the only one.
Our pet store does take unwanted fish. We just took one in, a ciclid, that was beating up our other fish. We even got a $3 credit, so we bought some plants for the tank.