What's The Fastest Way To Put A Fish Out Of Misery?

[uhuru]

Not the fastest way, but the only USDA approved substance for anesthesia/euthanasia of fish is MS-222 (Tricaine Methanesulfonate - an isomer of benzocaine). This method is considered humane and safe by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Eugenol (clove oil) 40-120 mg/L also works.

Decapitation also works.

[Imzadi]

I have a garden and freezer full of little friends that have passed...


I have used the freezer before on goldfish that just didn't know when to give up... I found it better to make sure the water was VERY cold first, so that it didn't take hours... I can't imagine the 'bash' method... or hammer. :-(

Just couldn't.

Sorry for the loss... it's not just a fish... they are friends.

[ludnix]

I would do clove oil, I seems much more human than freezing to death. You can often get clove oil at natural food stores, it's used for tooth aches.

[aquariumclown]

Originally posted by FlyinggFish
No worries anymore.
She just passed away...I guess she waited until I got home from work.

RIP

I know how you feel. I lost my mama white stripe maroon a short while ago. She was 16+ years old. Survived by her soulmate who's also about the same age.

[Stevenx2]

I think people tend to freezing, because it's pop them in there and forget. There have been a couple of discussions that freezing also isn't the most humane way to kill them. The fastest, most effective and easiest way is to cut their heads off. Needs a strong will, but death is instant. Cut from the top down 90° angle.

[tankjunky]

When I had to kill my six line because she was so sick I buried her wher I wanted, alive, covered her up. grabed the most biggest pole I could find in our back yard and hit it as hard as I could as much as I could. I felt so horible for doing that, I hated doing it, but I felt it was the best thing I could do to put her out of her misery

[ReeferChick85]

I don't ever think that I could do smashing or cutting off their heads or anything like that. I agree it's instant death but not remotely close to being humane IMO. I don't think I'd freeze the fish either. I think the only humane way is what uhuru mentioned above. To each their own i guess.

Imzadi,I agree that they are not "just fish".They are our pets. It's sad that some people don't really put too much value on fishes but they're living breathing animals just like our dogs and cats we consider as pets or whatever pets people keep.

[jenglish]

Originally posted by ReeferChick85
I don't ever think that I could do smashing or cutting off their heads or anything like that. I agree it's instant death but not remotely close to being humane IMO. I don't think I'd freeze the fish either. I think the only humane way is what uhuru mentioned above. To each their own i guess.

Imzadi,I agree that they are not "just fish".They are our pets. It's sad that some people don't really put too much value on fishes but they're living breathing animals just like our dogs and cats we consider as pets or whatever pets people keep.

uhuru mentions decapitation as well. just because something isn't pleasant for us doesn't mean its inhumane for the fish. It certainly takes a strong stomach though.

[TheDogFather]

I'm sorry for your loss. She was beautiful. I recommend Clove oil for sedation then alka-seltzer of asphyxiation. This is similar to the method used for human euthanasia use by the swiss right to die foundation it's basically barbiturates and a plastic bag...

[Acolin]

The fastest way to put a fish out of its misery?

Tell a good joke.

BTW, the guillotine was abandoned as a form of capital punishment because Madame Tussauds proved that the head still lives for a time after it is severed from the body. Which explains the look of shock on the victims’ faces. Freezing is supposedly painless to a cold-blooded animal.

[jenglish]

Originally posted by Acolin


BTW, the guillotine was abandoned as a form of capital punishment because Madame Tussauds proved that the head still lives for a time after it is severed from the body. Which explains the look of shock on the victims’ faces. Freezing is supposedly painless to a cold-blooded animal.

That depends on what one defines as "alive" cellular death can take quite some time. In humans the amount of time one lives after decapitation is approx. 13 seconds. The sudden loss of blood pressure from complete decapitation should result in immediate loss of consciousness or from the shock of the blow itself. Freezing is thought to be painless but can still be stressful. MS-222 is probably still the best option and clove oil the next (or at least use of clove oil before applying alka seltzer or one of the more brutal methods.)

[ser_renely]

Sorry to hear.

I just had a firefish pass away, it is always sad.

[FlyinggFish]

Here's an update:

So I buried her. The next day I went outside to see if she had been distrubed...
Sure enough, the two and a half foot whole I covered was dug up and the five pound rock I put on top of the grave was removed.
Damn racoons. My dad finally told me the reason why he make a little wooden coffin with screws:
the fish I buried (if any of you can recall my famous Slippery Dick) was seen being carried away in a racoons mouth.

So my dad took the box out and put sealant around the box to be extra sure they wouldn't get in there. And we bury her body again, this time putting a big rock on top, covering it up some more and then finally putting a cinder block on the top .

This morning the racoons still tried to get to her by burying around the sides of the cinder block. How ridiculous? And a little humorous.