What is most humane way to euthanize a fish?

[CWO4GUNNER]

In my book the only way anyone can say a euthanizing is painless is if they have experienced it first hand, well at least the part where you go to sleep before dieing. Most of us have experienced drug induced sleep before an operation which is exactly the same as death by injection except you wake up in judment instead of your hospital bed.

As an experienced ocean diver in the Coast Guard I have experienced instand submersion into 48 degree water and I can tell you it is quite painful until your body adjust. What is not painful and in fact quite pleasant is slow temperature drop hypothermia in water. It is so pleasant both mentally and physically that divers have been known to accidentally commit suicide. A friend of mine actually had to talk me out of the water becasue I was so taken by the wonderful feeling and experience that I wasn't thinking right, but finally realized I was in danger and got out of the water and warmed up and boy was that painful.

Anyway my pint is from first hand experiences and taught knowledge is that if you take an animal and reduce his normal ambient temp slowly, i.e place the baggie with the fish in 78 degree water in the freezer it will die very pleasantly and painlessly.

 

[dundadundun]

imo instant death is the least painful and most humane. we do not have the same neurological system therefore can only speculate. it may sound cruel but if/when i have to euth. anything i do it gory. i'll chop off or crush heads with a single blow from an adequate hammer or large sharp knife. it's not the prettiest thing but death is surely pretty short and definite. if clove oil puts them to sleep and/or kills them painlessly... but isn't 100% effective, i see no reason why it can't be a preliminary treatment to prevent pain.

i'm sorry to those who may disagree, but you can't deny the simplicity of the logic and the obvious answer. imo, waking up buried would be much worse than brutally murdered, especially if one were to be subjected to suffocating to death afterward.

i am also sorry if you see this as completely insensitive but i don't. i see it as putting the animals actual feelings before my emotional ones. that does not mean i have not teared after euthanizing an animal.

good luck dealing with this and i'm sorry to hear about your fish.

 

[ChicoRaton]

I would like to chime in on the cold method and say that I too feel that rapidly reducing the temperature of the water the fish is in is probably the best way. I have experienced hypothermia before and can certainly concur that the shock in entering cold water abruptly is subjectively much less comfortable than the feeling when your body temperature begins to drop - the water doesn't even feel cold - The nervous system responds most significantly to abrupt changes in state. The ice water method works but I had a sort of empathetic experience with the flopping, freezing fish when I did it... I decided it is obviously shocking and uncomfortable for the fish - No signs of distress were noted with another fish in a small container placed in an ice bath until the fish was dead.

 

[modri rogatec]

I would like to just ask one thing...
In our country the most commonly suggested way to put the aqaurium fish down is to use sparkling mineral water (except if the fish is Labyrinth fish). So what do you think about this method? (sorry for Hi-jacking)

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

As far as I'm aware, it is not widely considered humane to euthanize a fish via freezing unless using liquid nitrogen (for small fish), or at least without them haven been anesthetized first.

Cornell University
Dartmouth College of Animal Care
American Veterinary Medical Association
BGSU Animal Lab
etc...

I would like to just ask one thing...
In our country the most commonly suggested way to put the aqaurium fish down is to use sparkling mineral water (except if the fish is Labyrinth fish). So what do you think about this method? (sorry for Hi-jacking)

Basically a method of gassing via CO2. Use of CO2 is considered humane by some sources, and not by others.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

Small fish go in the garbage disposal. Large fish can be killed by decapitation. Gruesome, I know...but very effective.

 

[pongo]

clove oil only to anethetize and not kill the fish, it is usually recommended as a first step, to be followed by freezing/vodka or other method. Clove oil is not an approved method of euthanizing fish per the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association)

Decapitation is an absolute/quick and considered humane method for euthanizing many creatures including small mammals.

 

[ponderingky]

I use ice water and the culls are gone instantly. They hit the water and literally before they are half way down the cup they are still. It is a sad part of keeping animals but sometimes it has to be done.

HTH,

 

[Eveready]

According to Fishlopaedia:
Dropping a fish into boiling or iced water are not acceptable forms of euthanasia.
They list 4 acceptable methods:
Anaethetic overdose, ( this requires drugs from a vet).
Concussion, wrapping the fish in a towel with it's head exposed, and slapping it down on a hard surface.
Decapitation, I think this would be the only guaranteed quick and painless way.
Predation, although I am not sure how quick or painless this would be.

 

[jm1212]

many people will combine the freezing and clove oil methods...first they put the fish to sleep with the normal dose of clove oil, and then the administer the overdose, and then go on to put the fish in freezing water after it has fallen to sleep.