Fish tattoos denied by local pet store

A SOCIAL media storm blew up yesterday after the animal rights organisation, Ban Animal Trading posted on their Facebook page that they suspected a local pet store of selling tattooed fish. While community members took to Facebook to oppose the practice, considered as animal cruelty, Northlands Pets quickly confirmed that no fish have been harmed in their store.

Owner, Vinesh Jaenant said he is very disappointed to see that the issue had played out on social media as their suppliers, WBC Imports sent the fish to them, already with tattoos.
“We do not tattoo fish in our shop, one fish came in already tattooed. We don’t know why the fish was tattooed. We returned the fish to our supplier on Friday,” he said.

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Michael Segal, CEO of WBC Imports said these type of fish are on sale all around the world.

“They are called parrot fish, they are a cross breed between two fish. It is a round shaped fish with a heart shaped tale that comes in various colours. There’s a percentage of rejects that are culled because they don’t meet requirement. Instead of culling the fish they are sometimes tattooed with words, such as the phrase ‘I love you,’ with edible ink as a way to make a market out of the fish rather than cull them. The fish don’t feel any pain. It’s similar to the glass fish which have two colours painted on them.  WCB Imports is the most modern fish facility in South Africa. We look after fish and respect them,” he said.

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Prathna Singh, director of Ban Animal Trading said a supporter of the organisation had notified them about the fish.

“We do not deem it right to sell fish at all. We don’t support the pet trade. If fish are going to be sold, it’s not right to deem a fish to be a reject and modify them for sale,” she said.

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