Rome Bans 'cruel' Goldfish Bowls

[mstinawu]

Rome bans 'cruel' goldfish bowls

Tuesday, October 25, 2005; Posted: 11:43 a.m. EDT (15:43 GMT)

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- The city of Rome has banned goldfish bowls, which animal rights activists say are cruel, and has made regular dog-walks mandatory in the Italian capital, the town's council said on Tuesday.

The classic spherical fish bowls are banned under a new by-law which also stops fish or other animals being given away as fairground prizes. It comes after a national law was passed to allow jail sentences for people who abandon cats or dogs.

"It's good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention," said Monica Cirinna, the councilor behind the by-law.

"The civilization of a city can also be measured by this," she told Rome daily Il Messaggero.

The newspaper reported that round bowls caused fish to go blind. No one at Rome council was available to confirm this was why they were banned. Many fish experts say round bowls provide insufficient oxygen for fish.

In July 2004, parliament passed a law setting big fines and jail terms for people who abandon pets and since then local governments have added their own animal welfare rules many of which will be difficult to police.

The northern city of Turin passed a law in April to fine pet owners up to 500 euros ($597.7) if they do not walk their dogs at least three times a day.

The new Rome by-law requires owners to regularly exercise their dogs, and bans them from docking their pets' tails for aesthetic reasons.

It also provides legal recognition for cat lovers who provide food for the colonies of strays which live everywhere from the city's ancient Roman ruins to modern office car parks.

Animal rights groups estimate that around 150,000 pet dogs and 200,000 cats are abandoned in Italy every year.

source: http/www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/10/25...reut/index.html

i've heared about the jailtime thing for negletful dog owners over there too.. i guess that's wut happens when everything else in the world is right.. u finally get to think about the animals..

 

[wuvmybetta]

That's actually very awesome as far as fishbowls go. Buuuut, walk your dog THREE times a day?! I dunno about that. I walk ours once a day, a mile and a half each evening, I don't think either of us could handle three of those

 

[RandomWiktor]

I like the goldfish bowl banning, simply because no goldfish can be kept for their full lifespan in less than 20 gallons, and even very young fish die of ammonia poisoning and organ compression in bowls. I'd imagine people can still buy undersized AQUARIUMS for them, but eh. As for the blindness, that's a crock, but it is true that goldfish bowls do not provide enough surface area for oxygen for goldfish and MOST other fish. I'd say bettas are about the only ones who would do OK in them.

As for the thing with the dogs, I'm guessing that is because many people live in the city of Rome and don't really have a back yard to let the animal go out and urinate/defecate in like many of us do in America. My dog just runs around the yard all day; he doesn't much like it inside, because he is a terrier and very independant. He does like walks though, so even with a yard, we walk him to get him mental stimulation.

I'm sure americans would be angry about the no cropping/docking thing, as many of us are real breed traditionalists, but pretty much none of the European countries allow it any more, so that isn't a big shocker to me.

Rome has a HUGE problem with homeless dogs, which is probably why they are strengthening care standards; weed out the people who are likely to abandon so you are left only with responsible dog owners.

I'm a little curious as to why this is on the betta board, though?

 

[SRC]

I'd like to know how they propose to enforce these new "laws".

No round fish bowls? Are they going to go door to door checking houses for round fish bowls, like they did back in the days when they were looking for male infants? Or maybe like when they were burning books?

Walk your dog 3 times a day? Are they going to have specific designated areas for owners to walk their dogs to, so they can sign in for each walk, or what?
How could they possibly make sure EVERYONE is walking EVERY dog 3 times a day .

Going blind from being in a round bowl? So does that mean our bettas will go blind in 1 gallon square, octagon, rectangular, ect. tanks or is it just limited to round ones

I think it's great people are getting active in animal rights, but this sounds..*pardon the pun* kinda.... - e.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I'm a little curious as to why this is on the betta board, though?

I'm assuming that mstinawu posted it here in bettas because that's where they're most active (97% of their posts are in bettas), which is fine by me, there are several members who never branch outside of this board.

SRC raises good points. I wondered that myself, how would they go about enforcing a new law like that. Maybe they just take the bowls off the store shelves for starters.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I'd like to know how they propose to enforce these new "laws".

No round fish bowls? Are they going to go door to door checking houses for round fish bowls, like they did back in the days when they were looking for male infants? Or maybe like when they were burning books?

Walk your dog 3 times a day? Are they going to have specific designated areas for owners to walk their dogs to, so they can sign in for each walk, or what?
How could they possibly make sure EVERYONE is walking EVERY dog 3 times a day .

Going blind from being in a round bowl? So does that mean our bettas will go blind in 1 gallon square, octagon, rectangular, ect. tanks or is it just limited to round ones

I think it's great people are getting active in animal rights, but this sounds..*pardon the pun* kinda.... - e.

Yeah, we debated this topic on another board, and we all agreed that its a nice concept, but it won't be an enforceable law. I'd guess they won't allow round bowls to be sold any more, and if they catch you abandoning a pet, dole out a heavy fine, but everything else is probably going to be "on your honor." And we all know how well THAT works (heh).

The only thing I can think of for the blindness in goldfish bowls would be either oxygen depravation causing brain damage (in goldfish), or the ammonia build up hurting the eyes. But really, if the fish is that messed up from the poor water conditions, it probably has things much worse than blindness happening health-wise.

 

[Synirr]

The new Rome by-law requires owners to regularly exercise their dogs, and bans them from docking their pets' tails for aesthetic reasons.

It also provides legal recognition for cat lovers who provide food for the colonies of strays which live everywhere from the city's ancient Roman ruins to modern office car parks.

Banning the use of fish bowls is a good idea, but these two things in particular are just wonderful, in my opinion. I don't understand why anyone would want to mutilate their animals for any reason, much less aesthetic reasons. It just disgusts me. Ear cropping, tail docking, and the declawing of cats should be illegal worldwide. It baffles me that some people think saving their furniture is worth the price of amputating the tips of their pet's digits... finger amputation is so painful that it was once very commonly used as a method of torture, for Christ's sake.

Many of the people of Rome really care for the stray animals they have there, which is great. When I visited Rome I saw people randomly stopping when they saw stray animals and pulling cans of dog and cat food out of the backs of their motorbikes to feed them. Many shop owners also allow stray cats to take refuge in their stores (this also helps keep the pigeons out, so everyone wins!)

 

[wrs]

It's good to know that people are starting to realize these bowls are abd for the fish. Good for Rome!

 

[mstinawu]

I'm a little curious as to why this is on the betta board, though?

I'm assuming that mstinawu posted it here in bettas because that's where they're most active (97% of their posts are in bettas), which is fine by me, there are several members who never branch outside of this board.

SRC raises good points. I wondered that myself, how would they go about enforcing a new law like that. Maybe they just take the bowls off the store shelves for starters.

thanks. you just said it for me.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Banning the use of fish bowls is a good idea, but these two things in particular are just wonderful, in my opinion. I don't understand why anyone would want to mutilate their animals for any reason, much less aesthetic reasons. It just disgusts me. Ear cropping, tail docking, and the declawing of cats should be illegal worldwide. It baffles me that some people think saving their furniture is worth the price of amputating the tips of their pet's digits... finger amputation is so painful that it was once very commonly used as a method of torture, for Christ's sake.

Absolutely. I had been convinced for many years by various sources that declawing was not, in fact, a painful surgery. I never fully believed it, but working in a vet clinic, and both seeing, and monitering anesthesia for, the patients who are declawed, I can now say with conviction that it is cruel. The patients wake up screaming and growling, even with pain meds, and are usually unwilling to walk initially, and just chew at their feet and make moroseful growls all day. It is probably a good part of the reason why most clinics will not send the animal home for several days; the owners would be horrified. But frankly, they should be forced to see the consequences of their selfishness.
It is also not a very sterile surgery; they basically just take a pair of clippers and chop the digit off, then glue it shut with tissue glue. I have seen cases where people refused to use the proper litter post surgically, and the resulting infection damaged other bones in the feet and essentially crippled the cats. And even if the cat recovers fine, there is strong evidence of lasting pain, phantom limb sensations, and of course, a severe alteration of behavior when the animal's natural inclinations are denied and their primary means of defense are taken away. Many declawed cats I know take to biting, which is much more dangerous than scratching, due to the highly infectious nature of cat saliva, and the obvious risks of puncture wounds.
I am so disgusted that people would get an animal whose natural behavior is to scratch, then declaw it for convenience, because in doing so, they put the animal at the risk of anesthesia, surgery, and post-surgical complications with absolutely no health benefit. Vets should just refuse to do it; it goes against the code of ethics for veterinarian's and technicians.

Hah, wow, I guess I'm not keeping this on the topic of fish too well eh? Oh well. Its an interesting discussion, at any rate.

As a side note, I'm happy to report that at my college's pet care expo, I had two animal care leafletts regarding fish, one on goldfish, and one on bettas. Several people took them, including my professor, who has lost two goldfish (kept in bowls) to Ich. She was going to get another one, but after reading the leafletts, decided to discard the fish bowl, and will not be getting any more fish until she has time or funding for an adequate aquarium. So, it looks like at least a few people in America are finally warming up to the idea of kissing bowls goodbye, too

 

[lljdma06]

Yes, I saw this thread in chit chat and posted. It is an interesting law. SRC's right, how they're going to enforce this is going to be interesting.

I know I'd be charged for not walking my pooch 3x a day. She's pad-trained, if I take CiCi outside, it's for exercise, not to do business. Now, it's getting too cold and I'm too sick to take her out often, so we play inside for an hour. She weighs 6lbs. I don't think she could exercise 3x a day! I don't think the people in Rome will think this is such a great idea when dogs start getting heat stroke because they're out too much in the Summer. Italy can get pretty hot and nasty. Imagine walking your dog 3x a day in a heat index of 100, not fun! I hope they bring their water bottles!

Now, the goldfish bowl thingy, that's a step in the right direction, though that'll be fun to enforce as well.

I also agree that declawing is nasty. That was off-topic, but a relevant point.