Should I euthanize my goldfish, if so, how?

Question

My poor goldfish suffered a tragic traumatic injury when I was cleaning leaves out of the pond the other day. It now suffers from a bent spine. Should I let it pass naturally, because I doubt it will be able to eat because it spirals when it swims and has been spending most of the time on its side at the bottom of the pond. Or, should I give it a quick end? If so, how? I have read several articles on the internet, but they are full of speculation. Should I just put it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer?

Answer 1

His life is only pain now so yes you should euthanize him. The most humane way to kill a fish is cold, pop the poor little fellow in the freezer in a dish of water and he will go to sleep. Your obviously kind to ask what to do and not have just flushed him... two thumbs up ;-)

Answer 2

As an ice fisherman, I can tell you that freezing a fish does not necessarily kill it. I have had many frozen fish thaw out at home and start flapping again. Even removing the head, the fish does not die right away. Gills keep moving for up to an hour after cleaning fish. Sorry I can't tell you how to kill him quick and painless, so I'd say let nature take it's course, but at least take him out of the water to speed his demise.

Answer 3

The most humane way to euthanize a fish is to put it into a bowl of its own aquarium water and place the bowl in the freezer.

Answer 4

The most humane way to put a fish to sleep is to place it in a bag of water, like a Ziploc and place it in the freezer. Leave it there over night. It will not be alive if it defrosted. The fish, just like people get sleepy in extreme cold and go to sleep. They don't feel pain they just stop breathing.

And don't put it in a blender or cut off it's head...
He was a beloved pet and that would be traumatic to you.

C.J.

Answer 5

The kindest thing would to just let the little guy die naturally. Any method of death for a fish is agonizing,if only for a few seconds. If they die in their water,they sort of tend to drift off.

Answer 6

Ok This is coming from me because I have had to do it a couple of times. The absolute most humane thing to do believe it or not is to drop it in a blender. I could not stomach doing this to my jack dempsey that I had for eight years, So I chose the water method. This is very humane, all you have to do is get ice cold tap water, fill it up with ice in a bowl. let it sit for about 10 minutes and then dunk the fish into the water. As soon as it hits, it will go into shock and might move some, but these are just reflexive spasms. They cant feel anything. I had to do this because my jack had swim bladder disease and was really suffering. Hope this helps

Answer 7

Putting it in a plastic bag in the freezer is rather controversial. Some people say it is totally painless, others say that ice crystals form and cause massive pain inside the fish.

The most humane way is to quickly chop its head off. It looks a little disgusting, but the fish won't feel a thing.

Answer 8

i dont know much about how to humanely kill fish but i would say that the quickest way would be the least painful.

Answer 9

why would you put it in your freezer?? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

I'd say let it die naturally, the way nature intended. Because since you have a pond, it sounds like the fish is probably too big to flush it. Otherwise, I'd say flush it (sorry..)

Answer 10

Let him die naturally, freezing him sounds like torture, doesn't it?Who knows, maybe this will pass. Just let nature take it's course