fish welfare?

[Kittycat]

I'm not sure this belongs here, but I just want to know--are fishes covered and protected under federal and state animal welfare laws in the US?

How about UK--I read that feeding feeder fishes is illegal...Is there a particular statute stating so?

 

[The-Wolf]

I don't think they are in US law but in the UK they are covered by anti-cruelty laws because they are invertibrates and that is covered by that.

The Protection of Animals Acts 1911 - 2000
The first protection of Animals Act was passed in 1911. Since then there have been nine amendments to the Act. The Acts cover domestic or captive animals. This includes farm animals. The Act makes it an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to any domestic or captive animal. It is an offence to:

cruelly beat, kick, ill-treat, over-drive, over-load, torture, infuriate, or terrify any animal;
cause unnecessary suffering through transportation;
take part in the fighting or baiting of an animal;
administer poisonous or injurious substances without good reason;
permit operations to be carried out without due care and humanity;
cause unnecessary suffering to an animal that is being destroyed to provide food for mankind; and
the coursing and hunting of a captive animal that is liberated in an injured, mutilated or exhausted condition, or the coursing and hunting of a captive animal in an enclosed space from which it has no reasonable chance of escape.
Taken from DEFRA

 

[clutterydrawer]

fish are not invertebrates.

 

[CFC]

Im sure wolfie meant vertabrate animals but everything else he said is true, if it has bones on the inside then you cant be cruel to it basicly. You can however do whatever you like to insects and crustaceans.

 

[Kittycat]

Thanks, Wolf, it's very helpful. I'm doing a thesis on animal welfare laws in my country (Philippines), and US and UK laws are very interesting to compare.

Just curious, though, does this mean you can't feed mice to pet snakes, either, in UK? What do people feed their pet snakes there?

 

[canarsie11]

fish are not invertebrates.

 

[The-Wolf]

ok ok lets all have a laugh at the typo

 

[The-Wolf]

Just curious, though, does this mean you can't feed mice to pet snakes, either, in UK? What do people feed their pet snakes there?

We can't feed the live food. If however we humanly kill the rat etc before hand that is deemed ok.

 

[CFC]

Just curious, though, does this mean you can't feed mice to pet snakes, either, in UK? What do people feed their pet snakes there?

The feeding of live mice/rats/reptiles to snakes and larger reptiles is illegal too. My GF has a snake which happily eats frozen dead mice.

 

[lizard]

ok ok lets all have a laugh at the typo

If you insist....



Well, you told me to....

Weird that you can't feed live critters to snakes or use feeder fish or anything like that... Do they ban animals in the wild from that too?

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[The-Wolf]

ok ok lets all have a laugh at the typo

If you insist....



Well, you told me to....

Weird that you can't feed live critters to snakes or use feeder fish or anything like that... Do they ban animals in the wild from that too?

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

ok stop now

 

[CFC]

Weird that you can't feed live critters to snakes or use feeder fish or anything like that... Do they ban animals in the wild from that too?

Lets not start this debate again, it never goes well.

Here in England and the rest of Europe captive animals have rights and it is illegal to feed them to other animals.

 

[Boggle]

Does that mean fox hunts are outlawed? I thought they were, but I keep hearing different things...

 

[Synirr]

Does that mean fox hunts are outlawed? I thought they were, but I keep hearing different things...

If not, they ought to be...

Fish are not protected by any American laws that I know of. Some states might have animal abuse/neglect laws which include them, but my state, Texas, certainly doesn't

 

[Boggle]

Politically incorrect jokes regarding George Bush coming from Texas could be used here, but I'm just not that type of person

Every country needs it's butt kicked. Even Aussies, we think we can tell the UK to stop fox hunts & Spain to stop bull fighting, but we mutilate our sheep for 'easier maintenance' and then send them off to the Middle East to the barbaric butchers.