NSPCA campaign against keeping Goldfish in Fish Bowls...

Done!! And I am also part of Wetnose Animal Rescue SA

 

all done . *dusting off hands*:dancing2:

 

Ok also done

 

Signed up too:noworry:

 

It is the Pet store owners who need to be educated so they can educate their customers. I do not believe it is a problem to sell two Oranda and put them into a decent size of bowl. Tell the buyer why only two and how they need to look after them to ensure good health.
What happens to the guy who gets fish from a friend and chuck them onto a small fish tank! Had one come into the shop and they had a stupid number of g/fish in a 45cm tank! How is that stopped? To me they are barking up the wrong tree but then that is how the SPCA unfortunately works. We have a Pet Traders Association. Write legislation that in order to have a pet shop you must be affiliated to them and they then are prescriptive, as they are, in how you operate. This industry needs to educate the shop owners and staff first.
What happens to a guy who wants to put two Oscars, but they are only small, into a 45cm tank! I tell them straight, it's a NO NO. Smallest tank size to me for them is a 1,2m. I then tell them why.
That is what this industry needs and that is why, in 4 years of being open, I have built up the client base I have here in the Southern Cape. I do my best to educate the people and they are grateful for it.

 

Yeah @scotty - you may educate your clients(and we thank and applaud you for it...),but 90% of the LPS's dont..... and 2 Orandas,even in the biggest bowl Marlton's makes, will be cramped for space pretty soon - that is if they get to grow at all due to lack of filtration...

This campaign isn't aimed at "The Bowl" per se.....more at destroying the "Goldfish are replaceable pets" syndrome that the bowl personifies and perpetuates... Hopefully the prospective fish keeper will,when not having the quick,cheap option of the bowl,reflect on his (more expensive) purchase of an aquarium/filter/heater and not wanting to throw money in the water,educate him/herself in the requirements of keeping a fish alive.....

Having worked in the ornamental fish industry for over 2 decades,it has all ways boggled my mind that people will spend thousands and thousands of rands ona anew tank/pond - but wont fork out an extra R100 on a book about how to care for it....



Would you put this Oranda in a bowl?

 

Yeah had a comet that was that size - he got taken out by what I assume to be a bird of some sort. That was the outside mini-pond 450l .. but I did get him and a few friends as my frist fish in a h20 ha600 - they soon inspired me to MTS.

Truly, I am not a big fan of tanks under 35l .. even that needs extra water volume I think.

Later Ferdie

 

Hi to all who have commented here. I have the article, taken off the NSPCA site, here in front of me. This entire article can be torn to shreds as, as per usual, the subject is being approached incorrectly.
Freedom to express natural behaviour: You may not feed your Arrowana live food, therefore you are depriving them as per this heading! Double standards I guess but allowed because they are raising it. What makes a person say that overcrowding leads to aggression? On the contrary, with Malawi cichlids I highly recommend it as it lesson aggression!!!
Freedom from pain, injury and disease: Fish need a minimum of 10l water with suitable filtration! The points here, 4 of them, can all be taken apart.
Freedom from hunger and thirst; They mention the need for algae growth for feeding purposes! Who of you all clean the algeae from your tanks?

Let me now get to the point I want to raise. They are like the Traffic department saying that if they speed trap this will stop the carnage on our roads! Those in power have lost the plot.
I get back to my first comments the other day. Educate the pet shops to educate the customers. Make them all become part of the Pet Traders Association and then they must lay down the rules to be adhered to by all. I am a member and they already stipulate certain minimum requirements I must meet. I have customers, whose tanks I maintain, who cannot understand the reasons why they should do a 20% water change on the tank that has filtration in it!! I tell them I am bound by my affiliation to doing this so if they want my services then that is the minimum.
What do you do with the person who buys a small tank, by the way I only sell the 45cm and up tanks, buys a small corner unit filter and then adds in fish and never cleans the tank! What is the difference? Fish are also in the same boat as the alledged bowl situation!
EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION that is where it needs to start

 

A fish bowl is not a quick cheap option really.

 

You've obviously made your mind up about all this @scotty - I,for one am very happy to have signed that petition ...

 

@scotty the purpose of this petition is more to raise the awareness of fish requirements and to promote responsible fish keeping (which is what we all rant about everyday). Yes it is very true what you say with regards to LPS education and I agree that a doggy parlour with a few tanks needs to read up a bit... However the few of us that do start LFS because it is our passion in life will take pride in our experience and pass it on to fellow employees because it is in the interest of the LFS. I am in the process of starting my own shop and it's not just buying a few tanks and slap water in it. Yes SAPTA would be able to assist the LPS and LFS with seminars and courses but the "cats and dogs" mentality keeps them from doing it. I actually heard a guy say "How hard can running a pet shop be?"... Spread the love and not the anger. If I can make 1 person think twice about buying an oscar pair in a 2ft tank I have achieved my purpose in life

 

I have a problem in the way in which the SPCA go about doing things. I work very closely with the one here in George but there needs to be more thought put into this than what their article is all about. I have started, bought a box of 96 of them, selling a small sponge filter for use in a fish bowl or small tank because I believe in giving the fish the correct care. I believe there should be better guidelines written, by competent people, that all pet shops should be made to adhere to.
Then this brings me to my next point, how do we control the private person who gets fish from a friend and puts them into a bowl?
Had the local SPCA doing a survey the other day. Was asked all sorts of questions and it raised a point with me pertaining to birds. I asked them how do they then keep an eye on the various bird breeders, especially the backyard ones. Could not give me an answer! Why only target the pet shops?
What next will they get banned?? Predatory fish because you may not feed them live food! Those snakes that will only prey on live food! You may not feed them with live food!
Rather write and educate with well thought out information than going the route of getting things banned.
I am all for keeping a register for certain things that could be sold from my shop. Allow them then to go and inspect the people who have bought. I don't want to encourage the backyard business that could arise from banning everything. Education and control is far better.

 

My opinion as a layman.
Firstly I don't put much faith in a petition, but where the cause is something I agree with, and the people organising said petition are keen on achieving numbers, I'll put my name down - no skin off my back.
Then, I agree totally that education is first prize - and banning something without education is a case of dealing with the problem rather than trying to prevent it, however, by having it banned, it gives organisations like the SPCAs some clout to actually enforce these laws. The problem with some (NOT ALL) pet shops, is that it is about making a quick buck. Why should they care if the fish suffers / dies within a few days, they hope that the customer will just be back to try again.
I've been in a pet store where someone had just bought a brand new tank and a few hundred rands worth of fish - and when I told them they should rather setup and cycle first, the customer had no idea, and the shop assistant was quick to say - oh yeah. You can do that.

You can't legislate and enforce education. You need the black and white to say this is against the law or it isn't in order to control it.

 

Uni, that is why I say rather legislate that all pet shops must be affiliated to Pet Traders Association of SA. They then must, as the governing body, lay down the minimum requirements and then educate the stores. I am all for certain species being put onto a register system so the control can be better. You buy you sign and you want to sell or get rid of then you go back to the shop, if possible, where you bought from. If not then the new shop to contact where bought from. If this is allowed to go through as it is then who knows what will be next. The article is extremely poorly written. Will they then ban Siamese fighters from small tanks!! They, in their natural habitat, live in very small pockets of water. I tell people to do regular water changes even though they take in air.
I am all for tighter control but then do it correctly so as to achieve the desired end result.
If a pet shop does not want to be affiliated then close them down, simple.
Can I sell mealworms that are going to be fed live to whatever!
The SPCA needs to give better thought to some of the campaigns they embark on.

 

That sounds great in theory, but my personal experience of speaking to one of the committee members of SAPTA was that he felt it was fine to sell dyed, tattooed and mutilated fish. SAPTA wants to encourage trading in pets, not stop pet trade.

What you suggest would be an administrative nightmare. In my personal, idealistic opinion, South Africans should get better at policing themselves and stop calling for more legislation that, currently, is impossible to enforce. You have to catch the criminal before you can punish him/her.

 

Hi Jenn, I could not agree with you more. To me the way they colour fish, cut out their tails to make them heart shape is something the SPCA should be chasing. I do not sell that coloured stuff!
People will start policing themselves when equiped with the correct knowledge they need to help them make the correct decisions.
One bit of legislation forcing all pet shop to belong to a body is better than hundreds of laws that cannot be suitably policed and controlled.
Pet shops are easy pickings for the SPCA!
You cannot believe how grateful people are when you tell them how it should be done. Those who have listened come back with great stories of how well their tanks are now doing.

 

That must be very rewarding for you You should be proud.