Poor Ethics - Abandoned Fish.

[rvijay07]

I live in an Apartment Complex. Recently, someone movedout of one of the Apartments. He left two angelfish, very beautiful and pretty inside a small plastic box with water and just enough space for them to have air to breathe. Each fish is about the size of an adult palm !!!

The fish seemed to miss their owner and stressed at living in such a new environment. The janitor asked for my help as he had seen fish tanks in my apartment. He said, they were like that for almost two days or probably more !!!

The pet shop was about to close. I Called got their approval, almost ran and immediately returned the fish to the shop for proper care/alternative home. I had fever yesterday, still somehow I got the energy to perform this task.

How cruel, have some of usl become, to enjoy animals/pets but then to abandon them like that ?!! A little advance pllaning and atleast returning them to a local pet shop is not too much to ask for. Everyone, here must do their best to prevent pets from being abandoned as such.

Vijay

 

[ferret]

I have to wonder if they might not have simply been forgotten in the rush and excitement of moving into a new home, though.

 

[rvijay07]

I have to wonder if they might not have simply been forgotten in the rush and excitement of moving into a new home, though.

All living beings must not be forgotten. It is our higher responsibility to them, specially if we keep them as pets. This is just my opinion.

Besides, it appears that this person stayed in the apt. for long and has had these fish for 3 years or so. To abandon such long companions in such a stranded manner is really very sad.

Vijay

 

[millym]

terrible isnt it! people do that to dogs & cats & other pets as well you just cant imagine it but it happens all the time
im so glad you rescued them.........why couldnt the ex- owners taken a small moment out of their lives to do the same thing that you kindly did????

 

[Christmasfish]

People abandon birds and fish in apartments all the time.
My mom was always finding some odds and ends along with fish when moved or evicted tenants were gone at her complex in Las Vegas. Rarely animals because there are laws that can actually follow them then. I useed to find homes for stuff all the time.
Think of big bags'O' fish being trasporteed by car from NV to Phx AZ . Water refreshed and then I'd give them to everyone I knew that had fish. Let them divvy em out! Rare animals I could get pet stores to take. I had the worst luck with Marine Life. The poor things had already been in an unpowered apartment for 3 days to a week. One group in a 55 had been in apprx 2 weeks straight. In summer. And my mom would just top off the tank with set out water and turn the power on for them til I arrived.
I 'd separate the known carnivores from the "rest" and that was about it. I also bagged weird things separate like crustascians and starfish. Time was always in the essence. One guy gave me 200 bucks for my gas after I gave him all the bags.
It was a huge bunch of really big fish...tangs and the like. The guys tank sans stand was prolly 3000 bucks. (Prolly why he couldn't afford the apt! ^_^)
I had to actually bag them separate. My car (an older BMW sedan) looked like a betta nest inside that day. I had fish packed to the ceiling, in the floorboards, just a peephole held by sMcdonalds bads to keep my rear veiw clear. ... I was afraid to put them in the trunk. When I think of the the amount of possible live rock I let be garbaged as well as the sick looking fish I didn't think could make the trip.....and the tanks!
Law let her dispose of the stuff, but not sell it unless there is money owed.


Poor things...when I now think of the incompatible species I was bagging in haste....! Especially marine which I no NADA about even to guess... I just separated by beak/teeth/mouth and big/small
But I only had one batch of marine where they almost all died later. Usually it was an average of one per bag (considering I was using mostly their tank water for the trip and had no fewer than 6 per bag. 0_o)
Birds were easier. You put them in strong paper bags.

Boy I sure wish she managed that place NOW!

 

[William]

You think thats bad?

a friend of mine has a male betta. You know how he got it?


the person that used to live across from him got evicted from his house, and on top of all the garbage at the curb, was the poor betta wedged between some debris, in a little cocktail cup. Just thrown away as if he were nothing.


he was still alive, and survives to this day, altho it has been some time since I seen the fish, been a long time since I've seen him. but the last time I saw the fish he was as happy as can be.

 

[AtodaJ]

Wow... that is one lucky Betta.

Well... at first he was very unlucky but in the end he was very lucky.

 

[TankGirl]

That reminds me of my next door neighbor who moved out quite suddenly one day, didn't say anything, and two weeks later in the middle of a blizzard with the power out for 4 days my husband heard scratching coming from next door. I broke in and they had left their dog in there! She is a little Italian Greyhound mix so she has next to no fur, no heat, pipes burst and flooding, and she was living on the tops of the furniture because the floor was covered end to end in moldy poo and other debris.

I coaxed her out, because the County said that if they came and got her they would not be able to adopt her out until the owners released her, since she came from a known individual! I knew they would never come forward, so my sister has her now, 3 years later, and she is a doll! It is a wonder she is not seriously emotionally damaged, considering the abandonment. You could see that they left a bag of open dog food, but it was gone, and because the pipes froze and burst there was no water in the toilet (that was what she had been drinking). I have no words to describe that kind of person. They had foreclosed and just left, leaving behind most of their belongings.

Sorry to go so far off topic, but it is really no different, in my mind. The idea of a fish being left in a trash heap is beyond my comprehension!

 

[Menagerie]

The idea of leaving an animal behind is disgusting. When my mother moved to San Francisco in the 70's, her apartment came with two small kittens left in a closet with a fish (fishing line attached) for them to eat.
Although, I can think of no worse place than a college town. When I lived in Moscow, ID, animals were abandoned every summer. Student is done with school--time to move on in life and the animals get left. That's how my fiancé and I ended up with our cat, Squirrel, who kind of came with our first apartment. She was so skinny with a big bushy tail. We already had two adult cats and just wanted to feed Squirrel outside and try to find someone else to take her in--she was soooooo loving. When she suddenly got a very pregnant belly, we took her in and found homes for her kittens.

 

[AdamsZoological]

Almost as bad as the idiots who love to buy big fish, then dump them in local waterways. Gotta love peoples' sence of responsibility

 

[lyquidphyre]

If someone is irresponsible enough to leave a pet, they should never have one to begin with. I would rather pets get left behind and find new, good owners than staying with creeps who would leave them to find for themselves.

My parents are living in a rundown area of Ft.Worth right now until their new house is finished and these people that lived a few houses down had a Chahuahua but they couldn't afford to feed it (or themselves for that matter) so they fed the dog hot dogs. The little kids beat it with sticks, chains, anything they could get their hands on. They never let the dog in and left it tied to a tree and beat it when it barked. My mom couldn't take anymore when we had a snow storm (the once a year Tx snow storm) and they left the dog chained to a tree. So, one day she went over there and stole the dog.

turns out, he is VERY well behaved and has a wonderful personality. My mom spoils him to death. Sadly, the people got a new dog to replace the old one.

 

[Menagerie]

Sadly, the people got a new dog to replace the old one.

What are the animal cruelty laws down there?

 

[smilla4]

I don't know for sure, but according to this site it's a felony or misdemenor.

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/qvustxcruelty.htm

Call the local humane society and have them do an animal welfare check or report it to the police.

 

[trenac]

All animals should treated with respect no matter how small they are. The problem is some people don't think animals have any feelings or even fell pain. To take care of any pet properly takes time & cash so if you don't have these don't take on that big of responsibilty of taking care of a living breathing creature. So thumbs up to everyone who has rescued one of these helpless pets.

 

[AdamsZoological]

I definately agree, anyone that has taken the time and responsibility to rescue and abandoned, neglected, or abused animal, really deserves to be commended

 

[Thaiboxer]

Similar story, but not about fish...

One night about 6 years ago my mom's telephone rang - it was my step-dad's brother who was working as a night manager at a local hotel. Somebody had beat their puppy, kicked it, and abandoned it in a hotel room. (Paid cash, no way to follow them). He knew if it went to the humane society it would be put down, so...

My mom's had this wonderful dog ever since. She never liked dogs up to that point, but now they never go anywhere without Shelby. (The most spoiled dog on the planet).

 

[William]

Thats how I ended up with my cat.


Someone dumped him as a kitten at a shopping plaza, Just dumped her next to the trashcan in her little pet carrier with a sheet and a bowl of food. I don't know how long he was there, but he surely was appriciative.


Atleast until now, Now hes the typical teenage don't want nothing to do with you phase.


And he has very, very sharp claws.. *rubs wounded hands*

 

[madasafish]

Hehe. This site obviously attracts the right kind of ppl!!

Our cat had been abandoned... left on the streets of NYC. She was also almost certainly abused when she was younger. They have animal shelters all over here, so we picked her out and had her for 16 years. Put her down a few months ago, as her kidneys were terminal...

 

[Christmasfish]

Common pets are covered by law and have regulations within every humane association.
But fish and birds to some extent are unprotected. Which is why they are allowed to be prizes in games of skill and chance and lottery. They are not defined as animals except in the application of livestock. Only fringe groups like PETA try to use their membership clout for "lesser" species.
Sad but true. Until consumers in general are FORCED to acknowledge fish, and other "exotic" small pets as animals through hefty law as with fines and charges.... they will be suffering under the retail rules of esthetics and money

 

[stoneydee]

Unfortunately Christmasfish, although what you say about animal cruelty laws is true, the severity of punishment varies with each jurisdiction. Arkansas criminalizes animal cruelty, but it is only a misdemeanor. We are a largely rural state, and any attempt to toughen our animal cruelty laws brings the hunters and farmers out in droves, to whine about how taking legal game and dealing with livestock will earn them long prison sentences if the new law is passed. So far, that's been all that was needed for the wimps who call themselves our legislators to refuse to enhance penalties for animal cruelty.

Fish, reptiles and birds are unprotected in Arkansas.