Do not flush your goldfish, dead or alive.

[MitchM]

We have a campaign starting in our province against disposing of goldfissh, dead or alive.
If you flush them down the toilet, any parasites they carry can spread throughout the enviroment and if you release them into the wild via other methods, they can reproduce, thrive and of course destroy native species.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/giant-goldfish-multiplying-in-alberta-ponds-1.3125163

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Good advice for all to follow!

 

[rodsboys]

Surviving in the storm water ponds is quite a feat. Most of them are les then 4' deep when full.

 

[Dave 54]

Weve always known not to flush them but good advice to follow , after last years major flooding here in the UK fish from Garen ponds made a bid for freedom.
In a PFK story one person acctually took a photo of a goldfish swimming past his downstairs windows
So they can and do survive then thrive
Dave

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I never could understand flushing a fish down the toilet. Extremely cruel in my opinion.

Also not sure why people would release pet fish into the wild? Is it ignorance, laziness, or desperation?

 

[Dave 54]

Marria its because people dont want to learn about things and the first time things go wrong for them then they go, fair ground prizes of goldfish are often found by the roadside after the kid or the parent left them there
Twice now fish keepers in the UK have petitioned the government about this twice they refused to bann them on the grounds that kids like them as prizes .
Those who take them home then find that tans filters etc are rather expensive fish shops wont pay a person for them as such they ditch them ,
Its a sad refection of todays society where nobody wants to take resposibility the neighbourhood network has broken down and sociiety is a mess, I dont know about your own country ?


Dave

 

[Lisak1]

I don't know how flushing a dead fish down the toilet can be considered dangerous. Human feces can be loaded with parasites, bacteria, drug residue, disease - our water treatment plants handle all of that, so how can a dead fish cause a problem?

Now flushing a live fish is indeed cruel. And releasing them into the wild is ignorant, lazy, or irresponsible - or perhaps all three. And giving living animals as prizes is definitely a practice that needs to end.

 

[rodsboys]

I think part of the reason people put them in the rain water ponds, at least in Alberta is because these ponds are usually surrounded on all sides by houses and no natural occurring fish end up in them other than sticklebacks and flathead minnows. Perhaps the resident want to see some actual fish in there? Who knows? The one across the street from my house is huge. One of the neighbors there that has a koi pond told me he dumped a dozen or so goldfish in there several years ago that he used the first summer he had his pond set up. I have been meaning to try fishing in there, but don't want to look like a knob out there "fishing" just to see if they are alive and thriving.

 

[MitchM]

I don't know how flushing a dead fish down the toilet can be considered dangerous. Human feces can be loaded with parasites, bacteria, drug residue, disease - our water treatment plants handle all of that, so how can a dead fish cause a problem?.....

Parasites can survive the water treatment process, both from humans and fish.


.

 

[ChrisP]

If people only knew what goes on after you flush the toilet. Things don't just magically disappear and problem is solved. Nor do things (like animals) go straight into the river or sea. No, there's pumps, pipes clogged with grease, big settling tanks, purification, etc. Then out to a body of water where the environment gets to soak up all those chemicals from things we flush.

A trip to your local wastewater treatment plant would be eye-opening.

 

[pecan]

I have always buried the dead under rose bushes. They feed the roses which in turn produce beautiful blooms.