euthanasia

[Torrean]

May have to look for a while but it talks about euthanasia of a fish/amphibians further down the page.


http/www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf

 

[OrkyBetta]

Just do a search by pressing ctrl F, you can type in fish and find it faster.

It says clove oil is an inacceptible method of euthanasia. Should I not use it then, if I ever need to euthanize a fish?

 

[beblondie]

Euthanasia and disposal
It can be a sad moment in fishkeeping when one of our fish become ill and beyond our help.Below are
some options on euthanizing.Your options will vary depending on the size of the fish some options may
sound harsh even crude.Ultimately its up to you how to do it or even if you do it.This is not a debate on the best way or the most painless or do they feel pain.Its simply a list of options on how to do it.
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KILL IT
1.Freeze it add fish to a small bag with water and place in freezer the fishes bodily functions
slowly stop and it expires
2.Drop the fish itnto cold water or boiling water
3.Break its backbone
4.Carbonated beverages place beverage in the bag and add the fish the large amount of carbon dioxide
will basically suffocate tthe fish
5.Decapatation take a sharp knife place it just behind the gills and seperate the head from the body
6.Alcohol (vodka) Place enough water in a bag so fish is in normal swimming position add alcohol until fish loses it balance the place in freezer.
7.Concussion wrap the fish in a damp towel and on a hard sufrace hit its head with a hammer to destroythe brain.(preffered method according to some material)
8.Overdose of anesthesia Eugenol(clove oil) available at pharmacies and some other stores 20 drops per quart of water as it doesn't dissolve easily pre mix it first.
9.leave it out of water
10.flush it live down the drain
option 9,10 are in my opinion not options but horribly cruel!!! some of the others don't sound to good either
but its up to you.
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DISPOSAL
DO NOT FLUSH DEAD OR DIEING FISH
DO NOT RELEASE THEM INTO A LAKE OR POND

To properly dispose wrap the remains in paper towel sprinkle with bleach and double bag them in plastic bags then place them in the trash.This will prevent any transmission of possibly foreign disease-Anne

 

[OrkyBetta]

May I add that if you choose decapitation, you really need to destroy th brain afterwards to prevent hypoxia.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

beblondie are you saying that using methods of freezing the fish/putting it into freezing water or boiling water are acceptable methods of putting a fish down??
These methods are in fact extremely painful for the fish and are not instant; sure, if somone dropped me into boiling water i'd probably only last a couple of minutes(in fact about 5 apparently for most people) but then again it would be one of the most agonizing ways to die, and it is not any different for the fish either.
I could not get the link to work for myself.
Alchohol is also a fairly slow way for the fish to die apparently and the pain level must be similar, having the fish's protective skin/slime layer being burned off. Think about it as being drenched in hydrchloric/sulphiric(sp?) acid.
I agree flushing it down the toilet and leaving it out of the water are totally unacceptable methods of utting the fish down.
I am still undecided on clove oil.

For me, nothing beats good old decapitation/wacking the fishs brains out for putting a fish down as although they may sound a bit gruesome/barbaric, the death for the fish is instant. I would suggest after you do these methods though you also follow up with breaking/cutting its spine afterwards to prevent(in the very unlikely case if you've done the job properly) of it regaining any left consiciousness.
When you think about putting a fish down, think about how you'd like to die if you had a choice in it and if it meant being boiled/frozen alive to having your head chopped/blown/mashed off(i.e instant death) i wonder what you'd go for? simple as that. Im sure the fish would feel the same way too.

 

[Erised]

Freezing fish is not a way we support on this forum beblondie.
Also, I personally think the website wasnt too helpful. Most people dont have that many chemicals laying around the house.

Euthanasia
Clicking that will lead you to a section on this forum that gives you advice on how to put your fish to sleep. Far more helpful in my opinion.

 

[beblondie]

lets see what i wrote ''This is not a debate on the best way or the most painless or do they feel pain.Its simply a list of options on how to do it.''the fastest way is to destroy the brain-Anne

 

[wrs]

all the ways except clove oil are very cruel.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Decapitation and concussion/destroying the brain i think are the most humane- the fish dies instantly and when i say that i do mean while instantly while clove oil although it is effective, it isn't nesarsarily instant and needs alot of preparation to make sure it works.

 

[Crab Paste]

Freezing fish is not a way we support on this forum beblondie.

I've seen quite a few posts from regular users on this forum that use this method so I can't really see how you can say it isn't supported by this forum. It's not ideal but IS practiced by some people on TFF.

 

[OrkyBetta]

It is really a matter of personal preferance. These methods are all so quick, that the are virtually painless.

 

[Crab Paste]

Absolutely it's down to personal preference. None of us want to euthanise a fish, whether it's a £50 discus or a 50p tetra. It's not about price, it's about being humane. Ideally, if we have to euthanise a fish, it should be over before the fish even has time to know whats happening. Thats not always possible and some methods ignore this rule. I'm still amazed by the number of people who speak about flushing fish in forums and in the 'real world'.

The method I've employed in the past is to remove the fish from the water as swiftly as possible and place inside a small bag (fish carrier type or sandwich), then with all my energy (literally, I hurt my arm trying to do this as fast and hard as possible so it takes only one 'hit') swing the bag onto a hard surface. I always repeat this a few times anyway, then destroy the brain and dispose of the remains.

If only there was a miracle 'pill' to euthanise the fish in an instant.....actually.....a miracle pill to cure the fish would be even better!

 

[Javentule]

Huh.. I always thought freezing was fine. There's no pain invovled (or mess) and the fish has no idea what's going on. The drop in temperature, I thought, slows its biological functions down to nothing which effectively makes the fish "go to sleep". I have no idea if it's accurate or not, but I remember reading that freezing isn't a horrible way for HUMANS to die (biologically, aside from the psychological aspect which fish almost assuridly do not have). I would suspect that the freezing would have to be a long duration, and have the body be destroyed, since I'm betting that some fish could "reanimate" once thawed. Just speculating.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Wet paper towel and a hammer always worked for me, I mean, if you completely crush the brain, what the hell else is going to keep it alive? Wham Bam, sorry M'am

 

[Crab Paste]

Wet paper towel and a hammer always worked for me, I mean, if you completely crush the brain, what the hell else is going to keep it alive? Wham Bam, sorry M'am

Yep that'll work too....but swinging the hammer kills the fish....with the bag method I can at least try to partition blame on the hard surface which didn't get out of the way. Still doesn't make me feel any better about it but at least I've only had to do it a couple of times.