{"id":6393,"date":"2017-10-04T00:37:44","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T08:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=6393"},"modified":"2017-10-03T20:16:20","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T04:16:20","slug":"another-fish-bites-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/another-fish-bites-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"Another fish bites the dust"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Illustration by Elissa Sorenson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Zo<\/span>\u00eb<\/span> Strickland | Managing Editor<\/span><\/h5>\n

When I was growing up, my mom told me and my brother that we weren\u2019t allowed to have pets that we couldn\u2019t easily flush down the toilet. Though this has since changed, the overall sentiment is still true <\/span>\u2014<\/span> fish are easy. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s culturally accepted that we shouldn\u2019t get attached to pet fish. They\u2019re thought of as one of the most disposable living beings that you can have. So disposable that we give them away to anyone who is willing to grab a plastic cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every year, a club on campus gives out feeder fish during new student week. For those who don\u2019t know, feeder fish are inexpensive fish that are often bought in bulk and used to feed other large aquatic animals such as sharks and larger fish. <\/span><\/p>\n

As \u201cFinding Nemo\u201d taught us all: fish are friends, not food. Or, in this case, not gimmicks. <\/span><\/p>\n

Feeder fish aren\u2019t meant to be kept as pets, they\u2019re meant to be prey. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a miracle that any fair or carnival fish lasts longer than a few weeks. Like other mass-bred animals, such as chickens, feeder fish are raised in restrictive environments that then have a negative impact on their overall health. When bred, they\u2019re kept in crowded tanks and underfed- all in an effort to keep them from growing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because feeder fish are supposed to be used as food, they\u2019re cheap. <\/span><\/p>\n

A company that specializes in selling feeder fish, www.livefeederfish.com, has a package of 1000 goldfish for $200. Giving away goldfish is a low-budget operation, which is why it\u2019s so naturally appealing.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t particularly have a problem with the existence of feeder fish; it\u2019s natural for larger fish to eat smaller ones, so they serve a purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

My problem comes when integrating students into the mix. Going to the fair as a child and getting a goldfish is one thing; you\u2019re young and your parents will most likely be taking care of it. Getting a goldfish as a reward for filling out a survey during an over-crowded event is completely different. Students who are just coming to college need to learn how to take care of themselves before they should learn to care for another living thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fish, but it\u2019s still work. Are they going to remember to feed it before they go to their night class? Do they have a car to drive to get food and tank-cleaning supplies? Do they even have a sufficient sink to clean the tank in? Fish, especially ones like feeder fish that have been raised in less-than-great environments, require specific tank temperatures, a tank large enough that it won\u2019t further stunt their growth, food and aquarium maintenance. <\/span><\/p>\n

Giving away a living creature shouldn\u2019t be an afterthought. It shouldn\u2019t be a reward for a student who devotes thirty seconds to filling out a piece of paper. If a student truly wants a pet fish, they should devote time to thinking about whether or not they have the resources to take care of one. <\/span><\/p>\n

What happens over Thanksgiving or winter break when a student goes home? Who\u2019s going to take care of a fish in an empty dorm?<\/span><\/p>\n

That is, if it makes it past day four. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at zstrickland14@wou.edu<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zo\u00eb Strickland | Managing Editor When I was growing up, my mom told me and my brother that we weren\u2019t allowed to have pets that we couldn\u2019t easily flush down the toilet. Though this has since changed, the overall sentiment is still true \u2014 fish are easy. It\u2019s culturally accepted that we shouldn\u2019t get attached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1017,"featured_media":6394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1017"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}