Euthenasia

[Stu-pot]

please can someone tell me the most humane way to kill the hopeless fish?

thanks

stu

 

[kevin82]

is there a proper answer to this? I have been guilty of flushing a fish on it's very last legs after an uncontollable fungal infection

The fella is staring at you from my profile picture

 

[VaegaVic]

I had to euthanise my poor betta earlier this year and let me tell you this now, there is nothing humane about it.

I found that the easiest and least painful way was oil of cloves.

Add some tank water into a bowl, add 2 drops of clove oil, mix it around, add the fish, add another 2 drops.

Keep adding another drop a minute until the fish simply rests on the bottom of the tank.

Clove oil is an anesthetic for fish, so an overdose is fatal.

After 4 or 5 minutes, make sure the fish is dead and then dispose off, tipping the water into the toilet.


That's the easiest way, but anyway you do it, it's all very emotional.

DO NOT and I repeat! DO NOT put in the freezer or boiling water as these will most likely cause the fish to suffer til his last breath. Clove oil just makes them drift off into a sleep, never to wake up again, no pain, no unpleasantness, just relief.

 

[Squid]

I have used clove oil before. I put loads in from the offset and it was all over and done with in no time at all, so it's pretty humane being quick and painless due to the a anesthetic effect.

If you are fine with doing it though, you can't beat a quick chop in the right place or a solid crush to the death.. Not for everyone though, and you would have to do it right on take 1..

Cheers,
Squid

 

[Assaye]

Clove oil has a good reputation as a humane killer.

Destroying the brain is also an option. If done fast and done right, it kills them instantly. However, if done wrong . . . *shudders*

Never flush, freeze, boil or suffocate them. Those are very cruel methods.

A customer at work admitted to flusing a fish that was suffering to "put it out of its misery". Poor thing!

 

[drobbyb]

It's kind of graphic, but hitting the head with a blunt instrument provides instant painless death, but it makes a mess.

I've heard clove oil before, but after trying it on myself, it burns for a while before it takes effect. On skin this isn't too bad, but imagine soft sensitive gills. I'm not so sure it's as painless as people say it is.

 

[VaegaVic]

It's kind of graphic, but hitting the head with a blunt instrument provides instant painless death, but it makes a mess.

I've heard clove oil before, but after trying it on myself, it burns for a while before it takes effect. On skin this isn't too bad, but imagine soft sensitive gills. I'm not so sure it's as painless as people say it is.

No more painful then being frozen, boiled, smacked on the head, New tank Syndromed?

 

[drobbyb]

If you think about it, the brain tissue is what interprets the nerve impulses as pain. If there is no intact brain tissue, then there is no pain.

 

[Truck]

Sever the spinal chord just behind the neck and then pith the brain. you can't get more humane that that.

 

[drobbyb]

Very good point truck. I agree that if you have the stomach for it, then this would be the most humane.

 

[Forestpisces]

I have to agree that although it's unpleasant i believe a good solid blow to the head or decapatation is the most humane way.
Clove oil has shown many sighns of burning the fish before taking affect and i'm rather sure that it merely reduces oxygen in the water and is a simple poison that first paralyzes or immobalizes the fish. Meaning i'm not so sure about them being completely dead when you "dispose" them.

 

[Squid]

I saw this on a website, which is interesting, and backs up the previous posters comment.!

Clove oil is used to anaesthetize fish and is fatal to fish at doses greater than ¼ ml per litre of water. Clove oil is used in beer brewing and can be purchased through home-brewing outlets. It is also an aromatherapy oil, so try specialty outlets where oils are sold. Keep in mind that clove oil is classified as hazardous and can be irritating to the skin and eyes, and can be harmful if swallowed.

Since fish are cold-blooded, the brain can continue to function for a long time even after the heart and lungs have ceased functioning. Therefore it is possible for fish to recover from deep anaesthesia even if they are apparently dead because they are not breathing and have no heart beat. It can be very difficult to determine if a fish is dead, therefore, once the fish is deeply anaesthetized by leaving it in the solution for a couple of hours, it is recommended to freeze the fish, decapitate it or administer a sharp blow to the head to ensure it does not recover from anaesthesia.

Squid

 

[karin]

Haven't I read on this forum before that by no means should you flush the fish. This is introducing exotics to a domestic water system. And while yes sewage is treated before it is released to wherever, usually the environment, many substances, prescription meds, caffiene, etc get through the treatment system. Be sure that however you euthanize the fish, throw it in the garbage not the toilet.

 

[ChrisCook]

I have been a fly fisherman for the last 16 years and so have killed many hundreds, if not thousands of fish for food. Each fish (normally trout) are killed by a quick smack on the head with an item known as a priest (as it delivers the last rites to the fish!)

This is commonly accepted as the most humane way to kill a fish of that size.

However, it would obviously not be easy to hit a Tetra on the head without squashing it completely.

One option would be to put your size 10s through the fish - death will be instant but it would not be for the squeamish and depending on how you view your fish it may strike you as a bit savage.

Decapitation would be another option with a sharp knife - just go straight through the spine behind the head - instant death. Another thing to note is that a fish may still move after it is dead, much in the same way a headless chicken might.

 

[MOW4T]

sort of the same as spinal cord/ brain comments, take its head between thumb and forefinger and a quick but solid squeeze u will feel a sort of crack, its not nice but very quick and effective

thankfully only ever had to do this to one guppy