Dead fish

[yayfish24]

Just curious what you guys do when your prized fish die? Ive got a para pleco drying out right now. Is that wierd?

[kvnbyl]

I store them in the freezer and then when the weather warms up I bury then in the back yard. why not I figure. They are pets, not in the same class with cats and dogs maybe but still members of the household. how could I do any less?

[JamesFish]

Dispose of them. Sorry to say never buried one as not sure on the rules surrounding it. I know cats / dogs require permission to bury on your property due to water and things in the UK. I say require as in I believe you are supposed to request it in case of something being near the run off due to the chemicals given off by decaying flesh.

[Jools]

Good question.

I doubt even a large fish would seriously affect groundwater and I've never heard of requiring permission to bury cats and dogs etc. Might be different laws here. I have a reasonable sized garden and will bury several rodent or bird bodies a year just to get rid of them in a green manner.

I wrap fish up and put them in the trash. If it wasn't for the spines I'd compost them. It's a rather less than glorified way to go, but it's better than adding all their microorganisms to the sewer system in my view.

Jools

[JamesFish]

Hi All,

Quick google points you to the local council in the uk couldnt find anything directly related on it.

But heres an extract and where it came from

"Home burial

You may wish bury your pet in your own garden, but if you are going to do this you will need to check your local authority’s rules on home burial of animals. To be blunt a dead animal is clinical waste and you need to dispose of it in a legal way.

Click this link to find your local authority http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directo ... /index.htm"

Place found http://www.pet-owners.co.uk/index.php/a ... r_pet_dies

Different places have different rules and would imagine it would have to be a large number or a huge fish to make a major difference on its own but possibly it just to prevent mass burial of pets in areas that supply water.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Prized or not, I do various things. If safe and worth it, I prep and feed the dead to the alive. Having great many fish, one needs to be efficient. If the death is suspected to have been caused by a parasite, then proper freezing is needed. If by a bacteria/virus, boiling is needed. Or I bury and fertilize our prized plants.

One can learn a lot by sectioning the dead fish.

The skeleton may be mounted too and used for our (pseudo) scientific purposes. Necrocanis, the mod of the catfish section on MFK, is a master skeleton "mounter" and would teach any and all how to do it. He has hundreds of skeletons of large catfishes and conducts comparative studies, especially those of hybrid catfishes. Still, he is just a hobbyist.

Skeleton can be obtained by other methods, chemical or "green", such as placing the body on a large ant hill. Knowing it only in theory, IDK how well it holds together after that.

Dignity, I think, is more of the inward treatment attribute than outwardly actions, albeit to many, these are inseparable.

[Jools]

Maybe it's an England and Wales law. I can't find anything about it on my local council website or indeed the CAB page on animals/pets which says many people like to bury their pets in their garden. Feels like internet myth to me, but willing to be proved wrong. Would be interesting to know.

Anyway, probably a moot point as unless you're talking about several large fishes I can't see it being applicable anyway. Common sense says that unless it's a really small garden, even quite a few fishes shouldn't be a problem.

Cheers,

Jools

[Bas Pels]

As far sas I know, it is in NL not permitted to bury a cat, dog or rabit in one's garden - but I never heard anybody been prosecuted, while almost everybody buries them in their back yard.

The reason should be - as JamesFish pointed out - that a dead animal is waste, and the disposel of waste is regulated. I'm also not permitted to bury my cooking leftovers in my garden. But being prosecuted for this is also exceptional.

What would happen if I would bury dead fish? Nothing. But I, myself, dispose them along with the kitchen waste. Fishes which were important when alive, loose all their importance when they die.

[tagamasid1023]

Bury them in the backyard.

[PseudaSmart]

I want to commend everyone on the way this topic has been handled. Other forums would have quickly downhill. Personally I am amused by all the attempts to over regulate everything. I live in a semi rural area with 100s of acres of state land next to my property. Taking walks on the trails I always see dead animals but no one picking them up. Most of the laws (in the US) defining animal waste are there as a result previous abuse.

On the topic: Sorry losing favorites is always hard. Do what feels right for you.

[yayfish24]

If i ever had a huge royal or something similar die id love to have it mounted. Kinda like they do for game fish.

[Viktor Jarikov]

That's taxidermy. It's an option too. For clarity, I was talking not of taxidermy (which has more of the commemoration/aesthetics purposes) but of the skeleton mounting, which may or may not have some added scientific interest.

[yayfish24]

Id love to have a big skeleton mounted nice.

[racoll]

If the fishes have not started decaying, and you have some formalin and ethanol/methanol handy as well as some preserving jars, you can start your own natural history collection.

If the fish is a very rare one, and especially if you take a DNA sample also, a museum may even be interested in taking them.