Is there a humane way to euthanize a fish?

  • Thread starter Thread starter krazykhrystyne
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krazykhrystyne

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Only people with vet or fish breeding experience please. I have a betta that needs euthanizing. I have read about many cruel methods like alcohol, freezing and beheading. Is there a humane way to do this or do I just need to watch her suffer for weeks? She has fungus and I have cured her twice but it comes back b/c I can't keep her warm enough in our house- I have to keep her on a heating pad. I am not buying a heated tank at this point. Kind advice please. I will not hurt her but a slow death is terrible too.
 
Two wayz-
Drop it in boiling water. As soon as they hit they are supposedly knocked out and do not feel pain. Not sure how true this is.
Freezing is supposed to be okay too.
Why don't you just give her away? Post it on craigslist or a fish forum site. Tell the people you are in need of a loving home to nurse your baby back. Someone with a heated tank might want to help.
Or, Can you put the tank right next to the radiator? In the summer it won't be an issue.
 
A shot from the vet..I know it's sad, but it's much worse to let them die slowly and painfully. Sorry, fish are pets too and even though I don't have fish, I wouldn't let it suffer either. HUGS, I know it's hard!!!!
 
Beheading is actually the most humane. I have not heard of alchol being used before, but freezing is very cruel. However, if you do it quickly (Which you should be able to) the fish's spinal chord is severed and it feels nothing below the point of the cut, dying extremely, extremely quickly. Actually, the quickest and most humane would be to slice through the brain itself, as that would cause the brain's immediate death and the fish would feel absolutely nothing, seeing as the brain is what receives impulses from pain receptors that tell it that it is hurting. It might seem violent, but honestly, it is the quickest and most humane way I can think of.

EDIT: Freezing is like freezing to death. Yes, you go to sleep, but before that you experience excruciating pain as your tissues die. Even "Humane" extermination by the vet injecting something isn't as humane as you think- what they inject stops the heart, causing what is basically a heart attack. It is the stopping of the heart that kills the brain, and that happens moments after the heart stops, leaving plenty of time for the animal to suffer.
 
Gosh, I am sorry to hear that. If you haven't thought of this already, can you give her away? Maybe to a classroom? I can tell you care about her.
 
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