Why Aquarium fish need more animal abuse protection.

"In pet stores, fish languish in hazardous conditions and frequently die from neglect and improper care following purchase. These animals are sourced from the underwater equivalent of puppy mills or are captured from the wild via barbaric methods like cyanide poisoning.." - Idausa.org

Wild-caught fish.

Aquarium collecting has been shown to affect local populations of target fish significantly. The effect on other aquatic species largely depends on fishing practices used to collect aquarium species. Dangerous fishing practices can harm the entire ecosystem or seriously disrupt trophic interactions.

The Lack of care in pet stores and misleading advertising

When it comes to cats and dogs and sometimes parrots there are laws and current actions that exist that keep these animals from being sold like factories, for fish there is no such limit pet stores will order fish from farms and the journey to the store is stressful instead of letting them heal up in hospital tanks they are immediately placed on sale for people there is no profit gain when healing fish of stress once they make it to the hands of the consumer there is a 50/50 chance that your fish will survive the first week, it is much cheaper for store owners to wait for the fish to die than to heal them using medication, many stores just keep stocks of sick and dead fish out in the open many of the employees are not trained to handle fish sometimes the owner as well. Pet stores will actively sell you. Terrible products a well-known example is 1 to 2.5-gallon tanks

These tanks cannot hold any known fish in the market bettas maximum size for a tank is 4 to 10 gallons or higher these 1-gallon cups are death traps for fish, but they are sold as the perfect accessory for children, there are many other terrible products for example carbon filters are one scam that is widely sold to people.

Zero Legal Protection

The Problem with Aquarium Fish.

Aquarium fish are the most abused group of animals on the planet many animal abuse laws do not protect aquarium fish due to their size and the many stigmas surrounding fish like their inability to feel pain or emotions, they are seen more like toys than living animals.

Myths and stigmas that pertain to fish

Many people believe in many different myths that pertain to fish many of these stigmas come from what has been seen on TV, or they believe through word of mouth. For example, bettas live in puddles is a popular myth due to the fish being sold in cups in reality, Betta fish live in shallow rice paddies, and marshes in Asia that span for miles, bettas are only kept in cups due to their aggressive behaviors. but due to the lack of information and willingness to learn people assumed this is how they naturally lived, another myth that pertains to fish is their inability to feel pain or emotions according to National Geographic “Yes, fish are capable of being happy and unhappy. Historically, science has repeatedly gone back and forth on whether fish feel pain. However, enough experimentation has taken place now that veterinarians generally believe that they do experience pain and suffering”-National Geographic

Goldfish are terrible pets for children

Goldfish are Sold by many companies as perfect beginner fish for children they are far from beginner fish as these fish get about a foot or two in length many of them require above 60 gallons fancy variety requires 40 gallons, and koi fish require 100 gallons or a pond. These fish live for a very long time; fancy goldfish live up to 10 to 15 years while regular goldfish and koi survive up to 30 years due to their size and lifespan many pet owners abandon goldfish into nearby bodies of water causing havoc to local ecosystems, they aren’t delicious feeder food as well, due to goldfish being bred and kept in small tanks in sub-optimal conditions the chances of infection is high in goldfish and the animal you're feeding the goldfish too will very likely contract the disease it’s carrying it is recommended to grow your own feeder animals or look for alternatives.

Pet Fish have 0 legal protection, currently, the only protection these fish have is protection against illegal smuggling and poaching, for example, animals like Axolotls are not allowed to cross into California, In some states like North Carolina fish are not even considered “animals”,

Why should you care?

There are many horror stories of fish being kept as mere decorations or toys, imagine winning a puppy as a carnival prize wouldn’t there be a case of illegal puppy mills or animal abuse why are goldfish and bettas ok to be given out as Party favors imagine owning a kitten through party favors. Hermit crabs are taken from the wild and given false shells with decorations so that more kids would buy them, after the film “Finding Nemo” the sale of wild-caught clownfish rose by as much as 40 percent these fish were advertised for children as well increase sales. the fish we catch and eat don’t suffer for very long during the process, but aquarium fish death is stalled out,

What can be done?

Unfortunately due to how small and insignificant they are to the general public legally, they wouldn’t want to put any bare minimum protections on these animals since they aren’t as difficult as a dog but if there was any sort of protection i would start with pet stores needing to quarantine stock before being put up for sale quarantine reduces the risk of death, fish like bettas should be limited in the amount bred for stores as there are countless unwanted bettas left in cups and are thrown out when they aren't sold or die. But the biggest change that can be made is to make sure that information on these animals is known having descriptions available for the animal in the store or you the reader can inform people who are planning on keeping fish let them know that these animals have care requirements that need your attention

The question asked:

The perspective of the community

Should pet fish have similar animal abuse protections as dogs and cats?

Fernando Vallecillo
Yes, they should be, but at the same time, it’s complicated because fish are very difficult to keep alive, healthy, and happy. A dog and a cat are easy to care for but a fish isn’t. If you give them the wrong water or not enough space in a tank, or pair them up with a predator fish bigger than them, they’re gonna die. I’ve had a lot of pet fish and they all died. So, I feel like they should, but it would be tough to enforce those laws considering a lot of people get fish and their fish end up dying quickly.

Tiyahn Jackson
If we're speaking animal abuse aquatic animals aren't talked about as much as most land animals. I would agree that fish should get the same protections if not more. Especially for fishes with short life spans. Yeah, it's strange to think about it. Could it be possible not many people care for fish as much as dogs? Could be. But that doesn't mean a fish doesn't depend on their whole life in the hands of a human.

Alberto Mendoza

Many people don't respect fish due to them being alien compared to other animals but I suppose they should have the basic rights of what pets usually have. The main issue for me is distributors who turn over fish as cheap commodities which more often leads to bad owners.

Henry Teyuca

The reason I say because people tend to see fish as A lifeless pet because people tend to eat fish but when it comes to having it as A pet just like most pets you take care of it and naturally a bond will form this why pet fish should be treated equally like cats and dogs because they are only seeking safety and compassion. Plus I loved pet fish I had bunch of them as A kid

Sources and references.

https://www.idausa.org/campaign/farmed-animal/fish/#:~:text=In%20pet%20stores%2C%20fish%20languish,barbaric%20methods%20like%20cyanide%20poisoning.

https://www.coraldigest.org/index.php/AquariumTrade#:~:text=Aquarium%20collecting%20has%20been%20shown,or%20seriously%20disrupt%20trophic%20interactions.

https://chhsnews.net/5692/opinion/fish-suffer-in-the-possession-of-major-pet-supply-companies/#:~:text=Despite%20their%20complex%20needs%2C%20fish,ending%20in%20a%20preventable%20death.

https://www.knightcrier.org/top-stories/2020/12/20/fish-keeping-myths/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/betta-fish-pet-stores-care-mistreatment-news

https://www.shortform.com/blog/pet-store-ban/#:~:text=A%20growing%20number%20of%20US,puppy%20mills%20and%20animal%20maltreatment.

https://www.humanedecisions.com/pet-fish-home-aquarium-hobbyist-and-the-aquarium-trade-why-its-cruel-and-unethical/

aldf.org/article/animal-cruelty-charges-dropped-because-fish-are-not-animals-under-north-carolina-law/. ‌https://www.chicagotribune.com/2016/05/18/real-clownfish-suffered-after-finding-nemo-so-finding-dory-raises-concerns/