PETA's Rome strikes Again: Fish Bowl Ban Wins Award

[Mk]

Aside from their eco-terrorism funding, PETA lobbyists managed to convince a group of sorry-asses that fishbowls are evil.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051026/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_life_italy_pets

The classic spherical fish bowls are banned under a new by-law which also stops fish or other animals being given away as fairground prizes. It comes after a national law was passed to allow jail sentences for people who abandon cats or dogs.

"It's good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention," said Monica Cirinna, the councillor behind the by-law. "The civilisation of a city can also be measured by this," she told Rome daily Il Messaggero.

The newspaper reported that round bowls caused fish to go blind. No one at Rome council was available to confirm this was why they were banned. Many fish experts say round bowls provide insufficient oxygen for fish.

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, said Rome had gone further protecting fish than anywhere else in the world and gave Cirinna its "International Humanitarian Award".

 

[Pengwuino]

Hmm...

Maybe Bush is wrong in bombing and killing Al Qaeda

I think we know who the real raving lunatics are here...

 

[rachmaninoff]

What's crazy about it? Fishbowls are a very unpleasant for fish - there's very little surface area (hence oxygen), little volume, usually no filtration or cirulation, etc. It's a death trap - this law seems reasonable to me.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Without having read any scientific studies on it, I have heard for years that spherical containers are bad for fish. If that's true, I see no reason not to prevent people from using them. Rectangular aquariums are easy enough to come by, and you'd suppose that if people keep fish, they like them and wouldn't feel inconvenienced in being prevented from inadvertantly hurting the fish.

 

[Moonbear]

I think they've missed the mark a bit, but it's not entirely unfounded either. The problem isn't the shape of the bowl, but the size. I've never heard anything about it causing blindness, but fish don't thrive in small bowls or tanks. Goldfish seem to be the ones often sold in those sorts of bowls, and they really don't do well; they can have a very long lifespan, but in a bowl, you're lucky when they survive a few weeks. They're much better suited for large tanks or ponds.

There are a few species of tropical fishes that can do well enough in a bowl without filters (assuming you change the water often enough to keep it sufficiently oxygenated for them), but it's very unnatural for them to be confined to such a small space for swimming. The lack of filters on these small bowls is another problem with them; the water isn't kept oxygenated.

If you want to raise fish, make the investment into proper equipment and research the needs of the species you're selecting to make sure you're providing a comfortable habitat for them.