Best way to put a sick fish...

[Anonymous]

Something's fishy here. I think you folks say whacking is the best simply because you find it the most fun.

I'm not dissing you though. I advocate the "feed it to a predator" method. It's the most fun.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, well of course. If predator is available - by all means. Sometimes though, if a fish has ich or something you don't want to drop it into another tank and spread the infection.

Jim

 

[Anonymous]

Unless the fish is liable to spread some sort of disease to other inhabitants, what's wrong with letting nature take its course and the circle of life and all that?

Correct but since this thread is about "how to humanely put down a fish" but the original statement I quoted if I recall and maybe I read it wrong was *feeding them to a predator was a humane way to put them down*. To me this isn't humane and probably isn't all that swift.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Anonymous]

I still vehemently disagree with the freezing. It takes a long time, it is nowhere near instantaneous. Whacking (or clubbing for large fish) is instant.

I figured you would.
You're confusing mammals with fish. Fish are cold-blooded ( ectothermic ) and mammals are warm-blooded ( endothermic ).Think of cold-blooded animals such as snakes, frogs, etc. What happens to them during winter time ?
They hibernate. Correct ? Their heartbeat slows down and they go to sleep.
Do they suffer from this process? I don't think so. Do you?
Mammals on the other hand do suffer from the cold. You used an example of knowing a person that died from hypothermia. I too knew a 104 year old lady that fell in her unheated porch during a cold spell of 20 below zero. She was found 2 days later still coherent and was taken to a hospital but died 2 days later. Was this suffering? I'm sure it was.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Anonymous]

Mr. Mohr, I don't think you can argue that freezing in your home freezer will take at least several minutes, whereas a hard knock is instantaneous. I am not confused between ecto and endothermia, my beef is with the length of time for life processes to end.
I have had to end the suffering of many, many animals, and always opt for the method that takes the least amount of time and induces the least suffering.

 

[Anonymous]

Place it in a Martini.....shaken..not stirred.

 

[Simon1]

Man up and use the blender...

 

[KorbinDallas]

As was stated:
Fish are cold blooded. (well I think they're saying now that some tuna aren't - anybody have a tuna?). Anyway I've heard that they dont feel temperature so freezing simply puts them into a sleep in which they never awaken.

My dad is an avid fisherman and I've grown up cleaning walleye, perch, and catfish. Unless we were icefishing, death by whacking was how it was done. Let me tell you, I've smacked some large fish to kill them and its NOT easy. You gotta really hit them hard and in the right spot. - on the top of the head just behind the eyes. Otherwise it will probably take more than one blow.
Oh, and after you do the deed, sometimes the fish will start vibrating like its having a seizure. Thats its nerves even though its dead. Not too fun if its your pet.

 

[Anonymous]

Fish aren't the only animals that demonstrate this shaking. If I recollect, it's somewhat analogous to a release of autonomic nervous "energy" (not a mysterious energy, simply chemical reactions that generate the electrical energy by which the nervous system functions). I've seen it most pronounced in cattle. I have never seen it in any animal, including horses, that are euthanized with an overdose of anesthetic.

Not all fish are completely ectothermic.

You are right about big fish. Something like a bat is necessary, and some fish have THICK skulls!

My whole point, and my practice of what I preach, is to reduce suffering. As the person who carries out "the executions", I believe that it's my responsibility to essentially man up, buck up, shut up and do it HARD. When it's done right they'll never know what hit 'em.

Oh! One little caveat - if you're whacking fish that have an extensive bacterial infection, it tends to really soften their bodies. Be careful whacking those ones, as they tend to... splatter rather easily. :| (mmm, lovely!)

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed.
I've never had an aquarium fish so big in my tank that I had to worry about multiple strikes with a bat anyway. When I fish, I let them go.

Being placed in the freezer stresses the animal for an extended length of time, where wacking does not - period. Cold blooded is one thing, being slowly asphyxiated AND frozen is another.


Jim