Bad Euthanasia Experience

[starrynightxxi]

i agree, freezing can hardly be considered humane, regardless. It won't be quick, though it may be quicker for a fish than a person. The fish doesn't simply go to sleep.

Freezing shouldn't, as some posters have said in the past, cause ice crystals to form in the blood in non-marine fish (the water in their blood will freeze before the sea water in their container), but that doesn't make it painless. I think the only way the AVMA accepts freezing is as a means of ensuring death after desensitzation (such with clove oil, CO2, pin through the brain, etc.), or I believe i saw an article also that mentioned freezing with liquid nitrogen, but i'll have to look into that (though i don't believe this method is readily available to the common fishkeeper anyhow).

 

[sylvia]

I do have access to liquid nitrogen funnily enough but I've never even thought of that! It would probably be very effective though.

I have used clove oil and it works perfectly though it's trickier with gouramies (including bettas) because they breathe air. You still need to destroy the brain to make sure they are dead or at least leave them in the clove oil for a good while. It's very easy to get hold of clove oil BTW - ask your dentist It's sold for toothache.

Cold blooded animals actualy tend to last longer in the cold than warm-blooded animals. That's because their body simply starts to slow down - as opposed to ours which fights at first and then collapses completely. The fact that they 'slow down', however, doesn't mean they don't suffer or feel pain.

Smashing the head is probably the best method but I don't like doing it if I can avoid it. I would guess that many people feel the same way.

 

[RandomWiktor]

::nods:: Freezing was ruled out long ago as a humane method. It is known as being notoriously cruel for cold blooded animals especially, since their temperature-responsive metabolism will prolong the death as fluids in the extremities and blood slowly crystalize. It only looks peaceful because the animal tends to become immobile as blood is regulated to the core in a desperate attempt to keep the organs going. Anyone who has ever had frost bite knows how excruciating it is until the nerves are finally killed by the cold; the fact that the misconception about it being humane is still active in the minds of the public is more than a little alarming.

I personally fail to see how alternating between ice cold and scalding hot water is humane, though I have heard that shock is considered a humane method on many sites. Going into shock will indeed make the animal essentially feel numb and calm, but everything up until then is uncomfortable and scary at best, painful and terrifying at worst. Not to mention shock does not kill instantly. I have a feeling that one day, the shock/ice water submersion will be declared just as inhumane as freezing, simply because of how cold blooded animals work.

Like others have said, quickly smashing the head or using clove oil are the two methods that so far seem most humane. I dislike the idea of removing the fish from water, so I prefer clove oil. I use a very high concentration instead of the few drops suggested; it makes them go down almost instantly. Then I leave them in the solution until the eyes have clouded, the color fades, and the slime coat starts to shed (normally several hours); by then, they're good and dead. I've had to euthanize three fish so far and used clove oil for all three; it seems very fast and peaceful.

Also, just worth mentioning - decapitation is NOT humane for any cold blooded animal unless the brain is completely destroyed first! Again, because of their metabolism, cold blooded animals can live on for a shockingly long amount of time after decapitation. We see this often during cruel snake roundups where large numbers of snakes are decapitated, skinned, and otherwise cruelly killed; it takes painful hours for the brain to finally die.

 

[QuotheRaven]

vancouver to what extent was the water "frozen" as that could have been a issue.

 

[vancouver]

I had it in the freezer for awhile.. it wasn't frozen but it was too cold for my hand... I don't know if that could have been it.. cause when it went into scolding hot water it was still alive again...

I really don't know.. but I wont be trying it again that all I really know for sure.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Awr, sorry it was such a bad experience. That must have been tough for you. At least now, you'll know different options for the future should it come up again, though.

 

[tetraman]

You could even use the fridge for tropical fish. Their blood wouldn't crystalize. They would just slow down until they stop.

Like the new sig?

 

[starrynightxxi]

why is the fridge better? according to the article i read, the blood crystalizing is only an issue in marine fish because the water in their bodies will freeze before the salt water they are in, so that argument is invalid.

There just isn't a good way to freeze a fish that has not been first desensitized by use of one of the many other choices. It is slow and painful no matter how you look at it (except in the case of liquid nitrogen, in which is is very nearly instantaneous). Crushing or removing the head, or breaking the spine is by far the quickest death. I reserve judgement of the pin to the brain method because it is too easy miss in my opinion. as for clove oil there has been a lot of success by common fishkeepers, but no real laboratory tests to study the effects of it I don't believe.

As for your signature, once my head was crushed, i probably wouldn't care too much about being under water. That whole being dead thing, y'know. I would take that over a slow lingering freeze anyday, myself.

I can't help but feel that the reason you are such an advocate for freezing fish is that it's just easier. Put them in a cup, put them in the freezer, and you can forget about them. You don't have to watch them die and you've been detached from the whole experience by a heavy door. your life goes on as usual. But putting them in the freezer is no less a death sentence than any other method, it just happens to be slower and more painful than many of them. It's okay to not want to be involved. I don't like to be involved in the situation, but pretending it isn't happening, or that freezing them isn't going to cause them any pain isn't the solution.

 

[QuotheRaven]

vancouver was the top of the water frozen???

 

[DarkEntity]

You could even use the fridge for tropical fish. Their blood wouldn't crystalize. They would just slow down until they stop.

Like the new sig?

Thats the most painfull death for a fish, the blood starts to thicken and eventually die. The most humane way is definately the sharp shock to the head.

 

[jollysue]

I did not do well with smashing the head thing. It was a neon Tetra. It took 2 smashes, because it slipped. I tried to get clove, but was unsuccessful. I suppose I didn't try hard enough. I used brandy once. I was instantaneous. I'm sure there are objections. All the debating and disagreement and difficulty getting it done right has put me with vancover. Hope it comes quickly naturally while making them as comfortable as possible

 

[tetraman]

I was saying the most peaceful death may be the dropsey itself.