SF Animal Control Commission seeks ban on goldfish

[RandySF]

San Francisco's ever-active Animal Control and Welfare Commission has renewed its push for a pet sale ban in the city - only this time, it even covers goldfish.

The idea is to put the squeeze on puppy and kitten mills that supply pet stores, and to discourage "impulse buys" of hamsters and other small pets that often wind up being dumped at shelters.

But goldfish, guppies and tropical fish?

"Most fish in aquariums are either mass bred" under inhumane conditions "or taken from the wild," commission member Philip Gerrie said. That leads to "devastation of tropical fish from places like Southeast Asia," he said.



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/14/BA661JTO52.DTL#ixzz1PNGpb6b9

[hifiguy]

1. Clearly these are people with far too much time

on their hands. Talk about worrying about the arrangement of the deck furniture on the Titanic. :eyes:

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. yeah, insignificant small beings...who cares if they suffer

we only care about the suffering of humans and fluffy animals.

[hlthe2b]

2. Ahh, yet another solution seeking a problem...

Show me proof the goldfish trade is decimating tropical fish from the wild and I might reconsider.... That said, I do think fish stores have a responsibility to train buyers in the proper way to keep/maintain healthy fish--and to refuse to sell them if they are planning to just stick them in any ole jar of water or some similar condition.

[RZM]

3. There will be a loophole allowing uncircumcised goldfish n/t

[DJ13]

4. Im all for removing goldfish from Happy Meals

[pipi_k]

5. Well, we all know who's behind this....

This is the first step...the warning shots over the bow...before the worldwide goldfish revolution.

Take heed, humans!

The next sound you hear could be your pet goldfish firing automatic weapons at you from his aquarium.

[LeftinOH]

6. -the idea is to discourage the 'dumping' of unwanted small pets at shelters...

Uummmmm.. that's not how most people get rid of goldfish.

[InvisibleTouch]

8. At least one popular tropical fish species is now extinct in the wild...

...and would not exist at all anymore, except for being bred for the aquarium trade. They are not bred under inhumane conditions, or they wouldn't reproduce at all.

This is ridiculous. California is way overboard on this kind of stuff.

Trying to ban pets does potential harm to many such species, and cuts people off from vitally needed interaction with other species.

[Broderick]

9. Methinks they are stuck watching Nemo too much

with the kids.

[HopeHoops]

10. Does Pepperidge Farm know about this?