Best Way To Put Down Fish

[fish_master]

wat is the best way to put down a fish i have never done so but think that u should put them in fridge till they stop moving then frezee them (used by rspca ) or some 1 said they squish it head with a cup wat do u all think ??? wich 1

 

[MaddieJ]

Quoted from one of my books;

6cruel to be kind: the ideal way to help a helpless fish is the following method;drop the fish into a quater of water containing 1/4 grain of sodium amytal. the creature will be painlessly aneasthetized. then when it is insensible, smash it hard and fast against something solid.

 

[KathyM]

I've never been a fan of the idea of freezing, seems a nasty wayt to die.

Clove oil can be used as an anaesthetic, followed by vodka or beheading when they're fully unconscious.

 

[Bloo]

In order to help those further and try to keep things balanced, here are some rather 'lively' discussions on euthanasia. They are comments by your fellow forum members:

Used Clove Oil for the first time, don't think I did it correctly

How to Euthanize

What is the most humane way to euthanize?

Euthanasia by freezing, is this really the best way?

Methods of euthanasia, are these acceptable?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

What size fish do you have that need euthanising? The quicker the form of euthanasia, the more humane it is- simple as that.
I have never needed to euthanise a fish bigger than 2inchs, so what i do is leave a bowl of water in the freezer until a thin layer of ice developes. I take the thin layer of ice out of the water of water and then put the fish in- this method of euthanasia takes no longer than 5seconds at the max in my experience.
I would say this is a humane form of euthanasia because of the very quick time it takes to kill the fish, the fish die from instant temperature shock with this method and it is not messy or gory. I would not use this method on fish larger than 2inches because the key to its effectness is the size of the fish- the larger the fish the longer it takes for the temp shock to kill the brain of the fish etc, so i would only use this method on small fish.

 

[sylvia]

The problem with this last method, dispite being better than freezing (which is extremely cruel), is that you can't predict whether or not a fish will deffinately die quickly this way. Many individual fish are quite resistant to this kind of thing and die very slowly indeed afterwards from the shock.

Clove oil is by far the most humane method of euthanasia. All it takes is a few drops and the fish gently drifts off. You can then leave the fish in the clove oil for a while to make shure it's dead and dispose of the body (Don't flush! Always put dead fish in the garbage bin!). Note that it's good practice to also destroy the brain just incase the fish revives once desposed of and suffers as a result.

Smashing the head in so that you instantly destroy the brain is also humane, though unsightly and not everyone can manage to do it.

 

[Spiceweasel69]

I agree. Clove oil is always the best option. Freezing in a dry freezer is cruel. However, i did read an article a while ago that for freshwater fish, you can put a saucepan of saltwater in the freezer, which brings the water down to about -20C without freezing it. Drop the (small) fish in and it will freeze instantly, as it does not contain saltwater in its body. Larger fish arent suitable for this as they will tend to take longer to freeze and hence be conscious that its happening.

Depends on your morals. I havent tried this, as iv never had to do it. But i have a small bottle of clove oil for if i ever have to.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yes, in theory mixing normal ice with salt until it melts would make it liquid and lower the temp. even more. But how effective this is, I don't know.

 

[sparrow6190]

You could flush it, but that would be inhumane because the fish would be alive for quite a while, and it only works somewhat small fish.

p.s. To the original poster, Clay Roper, what are those two things in your signature?

 

[Griz]

I've been a sport-fisherman for pretty much my entire life and it always amuses me to hear these antiseptic descriptions of ways to dispatch a fish. My methods may seem barbaric to many, but I have no problem snaping the neck of a 12" brooktrout and you will not convince me that this is in any way cruel. The quicker the better IMO. Off with their heads!

 

[ramaseseniblikxviii]

wat is the best way to put down a fish i have never done so but think that u should put them in fridge till they stop moving then frezee them (used by rspca )

My God, the RSPCA use the freezing method?

Its probably the WORST way to euthenase a fish.

Anyway, there are lots of articles/debates on here about how to euthanase fish, the most recommended by members on here seems to be clove oil (but not for anabantoids), anasthetics and beheading.
Whether fish feel pain or not is debatable, but it is paramount to destroy the brain instantly either physically or chemically.
Please keep this in mind if euthanasing fish.

 

[andywg]

The problem with Clove oil as pointed out by SteelHealr in one of Bloo's links is this:

Oil of cloves is a topical anethestic and was used in the past to treat toothaches. Lidocaine (like at the dentist's office is a topical anesthetic as well). When we operate on people we really want to achieve 2 things, analgesia and anesthesia, that is, relief of pain and unconsciousness. IMO, when a fish is immersed in oil of cloves, it is essentially 'topically anesthetized', paralyzed, but, I am NOT convinced that the fish is unconscious.....none of us will really know for sure. We don't know if the oil of cloves causes stinging to the mucus membranes, eyes, etc on initial contact nor if the fish is motionless, painless but aware.

Extreme cold is an anesthetic. When applied to skin, you can actually cut the skin and feel no pain. Cold also can cause rapid unconsciousness. In fact, hypothermia is reported to cause a state of euphoria and clouding of consciousness. Fish, at least most of the types that we keep (tropical), are extremely small and rapid immersion in extreme cold water, in my opinion, causes rapid pain relief and rapid unconsciousness. I have never seen any of my fish shows signs of what I consider suffering. They stop moving immediately and appear lifeless. Some have stated that since fish are ectothermic, this doesn't apply....perhaps in cold water fish I would agree.

The point he is making is that clove oils is only known as a topical anesthetic, meaning that while it stops the pain, it may not stop the brain. Essentially the fish would be aware (as much as they ever are) of its surroundings, but unable to do anything about it due to motor paralysis. Not to mention as one person put it: stick your finger in it and then in your eye, it is not nice, how might that be on the gills or eyes of the fish?

The generally accepted quickest way (especially on larger fish that would not react well to cold water immersion) is to decapitate and then pierce the brain. If you do not pierce the brain then the fish may remain conscious for some seconds afterwards, similar to humans on the Guillotine. There was a study a little while ago on the most humane ways of execution in humans and it found that those we would normally conisder humane (lethal injection) may not be the most humane after all.

 

[fish_master]

p.s. To the original poster, Clay Roper, what are those two things in your signature?

those things are my axolotls

 

[Opcn]

I'd look it straight in the eye and say "You're a stupid, and you have ugly scales"

 

[Qays]

I'd look it straight in the eye and say "You're a stupid, and you have ugly scales"