MissMTS

We forgive you! Thanks for letting me know it wasn't me. It was pretty late as I was posting last night, so I may have been a little delirious lol.

gremlin

So has anyone seen this one?

"A vendor on Qingdao's modern waterfront holds up the souveneir he is selling, a goldfish in a sealed polythene bag, in the shape of a heart, and featuring one of the Olympic mascots on the front."

I heard about this one about a month ago. If you google goldfish olympic china you can see a couple of websites that tell about it. They are selling these "keychains" to kids as souvenirs because the goldfish is supposed to be good luck. Why couldn't they put little plastic goldfish in instead of real live (for a few minutes) fish...

MissMTS

OMG! That is disgusting! I can't believe that something like that is even legal!

gremlin

From what I understand, China does not have any laws about animal welfare.

fishchick

hey send that to PETA ! they would love to get ahold of that one ! I hate that also , as well as puppymills , i have a chi and a 75 gall myself and love them both!

mrsmuffin

There was a thread going around about the goldfish thing a few weeks ago. I just don't understand why anyone would even want one of those!

chickadee

I actually received a betta bowl from them as a premium that was made by AZOO and was a lovely LITTLE thing that holds 4 ounces of water and is about 2 inches across where the water is held and 2 inches high and V shaped tank as it is heart shaped. I wish I still had the picture of it next to my computer screen but it was one lost with the pictures when my computer before this one melted down. The betta would have had to hold its head out of the water or tail over the edge of the cup. I wrote them a sassy note and asked them why they were giving them as premiums, wouldn't anyone be stupid enough to purchase them?

I do not blame you for being upset, but I have actually seen this type of thing in an 8 gallon size that has holes in the back that are made for allowing heaters and small sponge filters to be inserted for tropical fish and then hung on the wall with very strong hooks. I think those while they would not be the best would still meet the requirement for life for most fish. This particular model though meets no one's requirements for anything but inhumane. The problem with this type of ornamental thing is people who go for this type of thing very often fail to do the maintenance involved in the care of the thing. They are more likely to want the fish for thier fun value than an actual companion or pet.

Rose

gremlin

The make a robo dog, they need to have a robo fish for people like this. That way the real ones don't suffer so much.

Devon

This is the worst thing I have ever seen.... really it makes me want to cry. Those poor little babies, what a horrible waste of life... and for what? I am so depressed now... How can this be stopped?

livetowin

yea we all hate what they are doing. unfortunatly there is nothing we can do no matter how much people try to stop these horrible things from happening people will still sell them and people who have no sense of value will buy them its horrible.

angelfish220

That Lava lamp tank is horrid!!!!

Bettas need air space because of their lung and that provideds none! Not to mention filters and heaters and oh I dont know ROOM TO TURN AROUND!!!

Devon

I just want to rescue every little betta fish in one of those things... and the keyring goldfish...

sirdarksol

Until human beings cease to see animals as soulless objects that are here for our amusement and convenience, this kind of thing will be accepted. I'm not just talking about fish, but dogs, cats, reptiles, etc...

I have met people who claim to be in touch with nature and/or Mother Gaia, and yet see nothing wrong with keeping a betta in a tiny bowl, a guinea pig in a 20g tank (they need a ton of room to run around), a puppy or kitten in a 2x2 cage for 23 hours of the day, etc... This is, sadly, just our culture. Work to change the culture, and you'll be working to change the circumstances these pets are kept in.

Alessa

I will repeat the story i already posted on the post "why wont people listen"

I go to a Jesuit Catholic university in chicago....

I was in genetics class discussing ethics and wheater or not it was good to experiment with "humans" and stem cells and all that for human benefit. 70% of the class said NOOOOO!. Then, the professor turned it around and asked if it was fair to do the same to animals, again, to our benefit. Most of the class said yes and then I stood up (with one of my friends and said:

"the fact that a monkey or a pig or a mouse cant talk dosent mean that they dont feel what is happening to them. It is just as inhumane or more than if it was done to a person because at least we can say "ouch it hurts" a rat is a fully developed life form, a 1 week blastocyst isnt".

Then, this pre-nurse girl stood up and said:

"So... youre saying that it is OK to kill babies for stem cells but it isnt ok to kill an animal How can u say that? they are animals, thats it. They dont have a soul, they dont reason and they dont matter. as long as it is to our benefit it has to be done, Otherwise, how are we gonna advance in technology?"

then I said:

"how do you know they dont have "a soul", anyways, I dont even know why we are talking about soul on a science class"


then the prof said:

"because religion is an important aspect in human life......."

then I interrupt and say:

"go and ask gallileo for his oppinion".


****Silence in the lecture hall******


Like sirdarksol said, as long as humans keep seeing animals as soulless objects, nothing will ever change...


btw, cant we organize something as FL memebers and show our case to PETA about these inhumane things?

Devon

"The question is not, 'Can they reason?' nor, 'Can they talk?' but rather, 'Can they suffer?'" ~Jeremy Bentham

You're absolutely right. People are constantly arguing this stupid pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo about an animal's ability to communicate or think or do certain things that humans do... or the semi-religious cop-out of souls or no souls... what difference does it make, in the end? They are living creatures, with a central nervous system that gives them the ability to feel PAIN, ILLNESS, & INJURY... that the argument could ever go past that simple fact constantly amazes me.

PETA may not be the best place to petition to, but I really can't think of anyone better. Do the Chinese have any groups of citizens that are interested in animal welfare? I'm sure that just because their government doesn't offer animal protections, that no one there can see how awful this is too...

sirdarksol

The funny thing about the stem cell research is that nothing even has to die for human stem cell research. Stem cells can be harvested from placentas of healthily-born babies, and yet our president has attempted to block that line of research. On the other hand, non-human research involves the death of many, many animals (why go through the extra work of harvesting the difficult way when it isn't considered unethical to do the easy thing?)

I really don't like the idea of going to PETA. Until they stop supporting actions that I would consider terrorist in nature (not to mention really stupid, like the farm-raised mink they released into the wild, where they all died of starvation, exposure, or predation, or the building they burned because it did "genetic experimentation," when it was a storehouse for the seedlings of an extremely endangered tree), I cannot support them, nor do I trust them to do the right thing.

Alessa

Ok...

isnt there ANYONE? gosh! this world is so...

Chief_waterchanger

The problem is that most people do not care as much as they profess to. I mean, if you honestly think about it...

We can all say that animal abuse is not good, or that it should be stopped... but how many of us (myself included) have spent time really working for the cause, beyond posting in forums, signing a petition, or writing a letter that probably won't be read. I know that I've never spent money out of my pocket (or anyone else's) to stop mistreatment of animals, other than taking in 2 strays and sending atleast 3 more to the humane society, where they were probably youthanized.

(I know that most will view that as a flame-worthy post, but for those that give actual deep thought to it will see my meaning and see just how sad but true it is. Also notice that in the beginning sentence I said MOST people, not all. Hope the intended point got across.