Goldfish killed for Beaver Lake work
The city, in a poor PR move, killed all the Beaver Lake goldfish before starting on the current round of repairs. The city guy explains the fish were descended from goldfish dumped in the lake by individuals; they’re neither naturally occurring nor seeded by the city.
On the other hand, they did make an effort to move the ducks.
Ian 08:46 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
I was wondering about those fish. That’s kind of sad that generations of released pets managed to thrive and nothing was done to try to relocate them.
Kevin 09:49 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
I have to wonder about those numbers. I mean, the ‘lake’ is deliberately frozen solid all winter for skaters, so how many goldfish survive.
Kate 09:56 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
They can survive winters. Carp are amazing creatures. In my neighbourhood there’s a house with a tiny pond out front and about six goldfish, and they either stay active under the ice or go into some kind of stasis.
Ephraim 10:03 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
Just takes a few more to start it again :)
Ian 10:46 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
@Kevin you could see the fish swimming around, there really were a ton of them – too many to reproduce from a handful of abandoned pets each year. Kate is right, carp can survive winters no problem. A lot of fish do the same, like trout, for instance.
qatzelok 10:53 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
I eat fish myself, so I can’t really act shocked that these goldfish weren’t “flown to a goldfish center on the taxpayer’s dime.”
Kate 10:57 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
I figure just as a PR exercise they could’ve offered to give some of them away.
Ian 13:59 on 2012/07/27 Permalink
If I’d known it was OK to do so I would have taken a couple myself! I’m sure there are lots of goldfish ponds in the more affluent neighbourhoods that would have been able to give some fish a home, had the word gone out. Seriously, if the city made even the slightest effort to communicate “free outdoor pond goldfish” they might even have found commercial takers – a 6″ koi goes for 20 bucks or so at a pond supply places, and some of those fish in Beaver Lake were considerably larger than that.
Chris 08:57 on 2012/07/28 Permalink
Apparently the city likes putting down animals. :( Did these fish bite someone? :) Strange that there’s less outrage vs that pitbull, despite them both being ‘pet animals’. :) Gazette commenters are saying “Could have been a great BBQ”, “who gives a flying carp”, “Won’t be too long before PETA [...] will be howling in protest”. But if the City puts down *one* dog, then OMG!
Kate 11:04 on 2012/07/28 Permalink
Chris, you go off the deep end when topics come up concerning animals. The original goldfish dumped in Beaver Lake were someone’s property, but even you have to grasp that people don’t usually feel as attached to a goldfish as they do to a cat or a dog. Those fish were there a long time, possibly they’ve since reproduced, and now in a sense they belonged to nobody and to everybody.
I still think the city could’ve handled this with more class.
I wonder if, after this recent spate of drownings, the lake will be fenced in and harder to get close to. Not heard about this, but it would not surprise me. Insurance companies have a lot of clout.
Chris 13:35 on 2012/07/28 Permalink
I think my tone and sarcasm are lost in the written word. I am in fact against the killing of dogs and goldfish and any other animal, whether for punishment, vengeance, hunting, food, or cost-saving measures. What annoys me is society’s schizophrenic attitude on the subject: ranging from holding protests when about killing a dog, vs mockery when killing many fish. Especially when the former (probably) harmed a person, and the latter did nothing to no one.
Kate 21:29 on 2012/07/29 Permalink
OK, point taken. But I still maintain people can sympathize with a person’s love for a specific dog, vs. feeling not very much for a whole lot of fish. I don’t know that I’d call that schizophrenic, although (as I’ve said) I think the city could’ve made more of an effort to do something classier than kill all the fish.