This is the most terrible thing that I have ever seen in a pet store. They are selling tattooed mollies. The common tattoo method involves grabbing the fish, taking it out of water or putting it in a very shallow amount of water or a wet paper towl (easier to hold on to), NO anesthesia, and just jabbing it with a ink-filled needle repeatedly, then tossing it back in the holding tank. It's extremely cruel, the mortality rate is astronomical, and it seriously shortens the lifespan of the fish.The inks haven't been through testing like human tattoo ink, and when the cheapest inks possible are used, there's a good chance that something in it might cause cancer, tumors, reproductive damage, or just general blood poisoning.
Dr Peter Burgess, a fish health consultant whose work on dyed glassfish was published in Practical Fishkeeping in the 1990s, said:
"The skin of a fish is living tissue throughout. Any colouring method that damages the skin's protective surface will render fish prone to potentially life-threatening infections.
The artificial colouring by laser presumably involves restraining the fish out of water for some time and this is likely to cause further unnecessary stress. And how do we know it isn't painful?
"This practice should be condemned as being cruel and totally unnecessary. It devalues living creatures and treats them as if they were some inanimate object that can be decorated purely for whim or commercial gain. For too long, fish have been widely perceived as cold, unfeeling creatures that do not perceive pain, but we know this is far from true. This despicable practice only serves to perpetuate the myth."
After taking a quick stroll through the store the fish area was the last place that I ended up. I asked the man that was working there about them and he told me that yes.... they are really tattooed. Like that would make me want to buy one? After that I turned, walked out of the store, and will never buy anything from them. I would rather buy my pet supplies or fish from Wal-Mart in Cabot!! read more
