Re: NANFA-L-- cold euthanasia

Jase Roberts (nanfa_list-in-jaseroberts.net)
Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:58:24 -0400

Hmmm... Yes, that does sound unpleasant for the fish. The difference here is that Dave's suggesting you put the fish in the freezer with some ambient-temperature water. The water's going to slowly cool and take the fish's metabolism down with it -- so by the time they get to freezing, they're almost completely dormant.

What you're doing is sticking a fish with a fully-active metabolism into freezing water. That means the fish is aware of and responding to the extreme temperature change.

If you need to do that, I'd suggest sticking the fish in a small bag of ambient-temperature water, and immersing fish AND bag into a bucket of ice water. That'll chill them more gradually, so their metabolism will go down and they become essentially unaware of the situation before they get to a lethal chill.

-Jase

anutej-in-loxinfo.co.th wrote:
> Sorry for being negative but I am not so sure about the thought that
> freezing is humane and painless, since often when I put fish
> [headwater cyprinids] in freezing water and ice to knock them prior to
> setting their fins and preservation they thrash around violently for a
> few seconds. This may not be pain but I doubt they are not in extreme
> stress and discomfort for that few second.....
>
> Tony
>
>
> Bonnie McNeely wrote:
>> I read the recent email concerning Petco. It mentioned that sick animals are not to be put in the freezer. Though the company may have a legitimate reason for that, if a fish is to be euthanized, that is actually a very humane approach. Unfortunately, some university Animal Care and Use Committee personnel reject it since it is not approved for veterianarians. However, the fish simply slow down their metabolism, eventually it goes to zero, and the animals die a painless death.
>>
>> I use it, and I think it is the best approach, rather than the (1) expensive, and (2) toxic MS-222 mentioned. Clove oil is an inexpensive and less toxic alternative to MS-222, but is not really necessary for euthanasia.
>>
>> Dave
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-- 
Jase Roberts
Lewiston, Maine
on the Androscoggin River
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/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
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/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml