Euthanize - freezer or clove

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Here are the AVMA euthanasia guidelines (p. 83).

https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/Guidelines-on-Euthanasia-2020.pdf
Jay

 

[Goby Bryant]

CLOVE OIL

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I removed some content from this thread that is in violation of our terms of service.

Please be aware of our site rules:

Ethical fishkeeping:

• The owners of Reef2Reef adhere to certain standards of ethical fish keeping. We believe that freshwater and saltwater aquarists are directly responsible for the health and well being of any aquatic animals in their care, be they fish or invertebrate. These responsibilities include providing a healthy aquatic environment, humane treatment, humane euthanasia (when required), as well as obtaining and disposing of aquatic animals in such a way that does not damage sensitive local ecosystems. Posts advocating the illegal collection of fish or invertebrates, inhumane treatment, flushing live animals down the toilet, or releasing them into the wild will be removed.

 

[gbru316]

I removed some content from this thread that is in violation of our terms of service.

Please be aware of our site rules:

Ethical fishkeeping:

• The owners of Reef2Reef adhere to certain standards of ethical fish keeping. We believe that freshwater and saltwater aquarists are directly responsible for the health and well being of any aquatic animals in their care, be they fish or invertebrate. These responsibilities include providing a healthy aquatic environment, humane treatment, humane euthanasia (when required), as well as obtaining and disposing of aquatic animals in such a way that does not damage sensitive local ecosystems. Posts advocating the illegal collection of fish or invertebrates, inhumane treatment, flushing live animals down the toilet, or releasing them into the wild will be removed.

There was nothing unethical or against ToS in my post, per the AVMA (The American Veterinary Medical Association) guidelines on euthanasia. Unpleasant? Sure. Unethical? Not to according to the authority that @Jay Hemdal referenced.

To wit:

"(5) Maceration (1 step). When applied correctly, using a well-maintained macerator specifically designed for the size of fish being euthanized, death is nearly instantaneous.324 The process is aesthetically unpleasant for some operators and observers."

If anyone is unfamiliar with the term "maceration," it's essentially just quickly chopping something up into very small bits. In this case, fish.

The household appliances I specified are ethically sound assuming the fish is sufficiently small, or the devices sufficiently large. And they should be acknowledged as the viable methods of ethical euthanasia that they are.


The other method I suggested -- blunt force trauma and cutting of gills (exsanguination) is also an accepted method of ethical euthanasia, also specifically mentioned in the AVMA document:

Manually applied blunt force trauma (cranial concussion; Figure 24) followed by pithing or exsanguination (2 step). Manually applied blunt force trauma (a rapid, accurately placed blow of sufficient energy to the cranium with an appropriate-sized club) can cause immediate unconsciousness and potentially death, but should be followed by pithing or exsanguination to ensure death. The fish’s size, species, and anatomy and characteristics of the blow (including its accuracy, speed, and club mass) will determine the efficacy of manually applied blunt force trauma. This procedure requires training and monitoring for proficiency. Anatomic features, such as the location of the eyes, can help serve as a guide to the location of the brain.322,323

Seems mods got a bit heavy-handed here as a result of unpleasant subject matter. Which is a shame, because all it's doing is hiding ethical euthanasia methods from hobbyists. Yet, the truly unethical methods (ie freezer) have been allowed to remain.

 

[FishOkay]

No not an ice bath

Club soda!
Put the sick fish in a small container with aquarium water. Plastic bag is probably best?
Shake the bottle, put the screw top under water, open!
The carbonation will fill the water column with CO2.
Fish will black out very quickly. Death in a few minutes unless you allow it to revive in oxygenated water.

I'm surprised this wasn't removed along with the others. That isn't a humane way of euthanasia and shouldnt really be recommended. It takes time and between the time of co2 entering the water and death the fish is suffocating and in a lot of stress.