Tattooed Fish

I went to Walmart tonight and passed through the fish section. I hate seeing all those fish in such horrible conditions but I went over there and saw a really wierd fish. They were mollies with 'tattoos'. I came home tonight and researched a bit and they tattoo the scales of the fish using a dye laser. I was horrified.

People think of fish as cold, unfeeling creatures. I'm the kind of person that views animals as individual beings, almost like people, only less intelligent. I treat my cats and reptiles as my children. I would never even think of tattooing any of my animals. Its cruel and makes the animal seem like a cell phone that you can customize to your liking. Want a fish with a ying yang painted on the side, sure. I mean jeeze. What is this? Supposedly no fish have died from this procedure, but they have to take the fish out of water for a period of time, blast them with this lazer and then dye the fish. That in itself is stressful and dangerous for the fish. Any disruption of thier slime coating makes them vunerable to illness, not to mention the time out of water is very stressful for the fish.

Tattooing a fish is unnecessary and possibly harmful for the animal. If you want an animal you can customize, get a hermit crab and paint its shell. Don't go around tattooing a fish.

What are your thoughts on this practice?

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...yedparrots.jpg

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...ouramihead.jpg

http://www.canadiangoldfish.com/images/parrot.jpg

http://www.fishtanksandponds.info/im...r/DSCF1150.jpg

Thats disgusting, why would someone do that? Fish are cool the way they are.

I just can't even imagine why someone would do that :: sits baffled::

I am with you though, animals are invidual beings, may not have emotions or personality but they are living creatures and they do feel pain.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

Supposedly no fish have died from this procedure.[/IMG]

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This could not be further from the truth, unfortunately. When I started up my own community tank, my mother bought me pink and blue glass fish. I knew instantly these fish did not come in these colors and I researched them. They inject these fish with dye, and sometimes the dye stays really well, sometimes they just fade back to their normal color. Alot of the fish injected actually do not survive...glass fish are kind of like gold fish in the sense that they are popular, there are alot of them, so people see them as disposable.

Though I was horrified about the practice of injecting fish with dyes, I still kept the fish. They reminded me everyday how terrible most people can be. I have not seen the tattooed fish, but this practice is horrifying, as well, but not in the least surprising.

I do not support tattooing of fish...however, I can see the logic in tattooing an identification number on a dog or cat (on the inside of a leg, mainly), but not while the animal is awake and can feel it. I do not have any animals with tattoos, but I have considered it. Microchips are more along the lines of my support now, and I am glad I never went through with the tattooing.

I don't view animals as less intelligent than us, so I'll have to disagree there. Some animals may seem alot dumber than us, but we shouldn't take all the credit for intelligence. Animals are rather smart, regardless of how low IQ they have compared to humans. They adapt, they have their own way of communication, survival tactics, etc. But, I can see why alot of people state animals are of lesser intelligence than us, so I'll just stop there. :)

I personally respect each and every living thing. Be it skinned, furred, scaled, slimy, comfortable, icky, crunchy & plants, trees...everything. I think of everything as being connected and in some sense, equal.

I don't believe anyone has a right to do this to a fish, in short. I've realized though, people will just continue to be cruel, no matter who says what. And it is really depressing to me. :(

Actually, no animal should be customized. Painting a hermit crabs shell is no different than rubbing paint on your snake. It's harmful to the animal and cruel.

The process used to put them in those shells isn't natural either. They usually put them in a cold storage room so that they are almost hypothermic and lifeless. This means the crab releases its grip on its current shell and they take it away and leave it naked. They then only offer the crab those 'fancy' painted shells.

The shell dye is harmful, in the 70-80% humidity that is maintained, the dye/paint becomes tacky, and can then glue the crab into the shell. It then tears itself apart when trying to remove it.

I really hate that dying/tattooing fish hasn't been made illegal yet since the mortality rate is so outrageous :( I believe there were pet stores selling tattooed cichlids for 50 dollars a fish during Valentine's day because they had corny messages like I <3 you

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Originally Posted by Nicole N

The shell dye is harmful, in the 70-80% humidity that is maintained, the dye/paint becomes tacky, and can then glue the crab into the shell. It then tears itself apart when trying to remove it.

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Don't they usually just paint the outside of the shell? ..like a little picture on it? I suppose that could happen with a shell totally dipped in paint, but just a little picture painted on the outside can't be that bad.

I'm with you guys on the tattooed fish.. I don't even think it's attractive. Fish come in every color of the rainbow naturally.. why mess with it?

That said, my horse has a tattoo for identification purposes.. I don't think it's always wrong no matter what.. just seems kind of useless and harmful to tattoo fish.

the thing about the glassfish is, [i'm not sure about the others,] that they dont just inject the fish once, it's dozens of times just to tattoo one stripe. i think this practice is one of the most horrible. i did successfully stop some of my LFS from stocking these fish, but am really disgusted that it's still legal.

death by dyeing

I am against it and actively boycot fish supplies were these fish are sold


Only through NOT BUYING can we make a big statement


That and flyers *plans and schemes

http://www.deathbydyeing.org/moreau.htm

is a a site also

it is outdated

yep, it's barbaric and has been around in one form or another for many years. There are much worse things that I won't get into here, but the dying/tattooing/injecting is the most popular practice of fish mutilation right now.

I also boycott stores that stock them, and I try to educate them why they should not. Educating the public is the best approach, but unfortunately the demand for these gimmick fish is still high because not enough people know and some of those who know don't care.

The injuring of an animal to alter its looks to me is absurd and cruel. No these animals may not die but the pain they might feel and the stress on their body of having an ink in them is outrageous. Tattooing for id reasons is one thing but you wouldn't get your dog tattooed. Whats next tattooed hairless rats.