A number one French aquarium vendor has determined to cease promoting spherical fish bowls as a result of they drive fish mad and kill them rapidly.
French pet care market chief AgroBiothers Laboratoire will now not promote any aquariums with a capability of lower than 15 litres and solely rectangular ones, as placing fish in small bowls with out filtration and oxygenation is animal abuse, it mentioned.
“People buy a goldfish for their kids on impulse, but if they knew what a torture it is, they would not do it. Turning round and round in a small bowl drives fish crazy and kills them quickly,” AgroBiothers CEO Matthieu Lambeaux instructed Reuters.
Goldfish can stay as much as 30 years and develop to about 25cm in large aquariums or outside ponds, however in tiny bowls they typically die inside weeks or months.
He mentioned goldfish are social animals who want the corporate of different fish, ample area and clear water, and that having an aquarium requires a minimal of kit and experience.
France is Europe’s primary marketplace for pink aquarium fish, with about 2.3 million fish, Lambeaux mentioned.
Germany and several other different European international locations have lengthy banned fish bowls, however France has no laws on the problem.
“It is a French anachronism, that is why we decided to move. We cannot educate all our customers to explain that keeping fish in a bowl is cruel. We consider that it is our responsibility to no longer give consumers that choice,” Lambeaux mentioned.
AgroBiothers, which has a French market share of about 27 per cent in pet care merchandise, bought about 50,000 fish bowls per yr at about 20 euros (S$30.50) a bit in earlier years.
“There is demand for fish bowls, but the reality is that what we offer children is the possibility to see gold fish die slowly,” he mentioned.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Christina Fincher)
