Gold
08-10-01, 03:38 AM 08-10-01
Fish in novelty cisterns worry RSPCA
LONDON - Britain's RSPCA is keeping its eyes on a seafood restaurant that rears its pet goldfish in novelty glass cisterns.
After receiving complaints from a customer, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had sent its inspector twice to The Gallery restaurant in Topsham, Devon.
The fishes are tossed about every time the lavatory is flushed, causing water to rush in to refill the cistern.
'This is certainly no way to keep fish. There is absolutely no doubt that it distresses them,' Mr Steve Cheetham, the RSPCA's assistant chief veterinary officer, was quoted by The Times newspaper as saying.
But as the fishes were still alive on the inspector's second visit - two weeks after the first, the association was powerless to prosecute.
Mr Rob Case, a spokesman for the makers of the novelty glass cisterns, said: 'When people inquire about the tanks, they ask about the cruelty side of it. But the tank is larger than a normal cistern, so there is a lot of water in it and only a third drains out.
'There is a special valve which ensures the water goes out and in very slowly so the fish aren't disturbed.'
However, the inspector has advised the restaurant that the noise and disturbance distress the fish.
LONDON - Britain's RSPCA is keeping its eyes on a seafood restaurant that rears its pet goldfish in novelty glass cisterns.
After receiving complaints from a customer, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had sent its inspector twice to The Gallery restaurant in Topsham, Devon.
The fishes are tossed about every time the lavatory is flushed, causing water to rush in to refill the cistern.
'This is certainly no way to keep fish. There is absolutely no doubt that it distresses them,' Mr Steve Cheetham, the RSPCA's assistant chief veterinary officer, was quoted by The Times newspaper as saying.
But as the fishes were still alive on the inspector's second visit - two weeks after the first, the association was powerless to prosecute.
Mr Rob Case, a spokesman for the makers of the novelty glass cisterns, said: 'When people inquire about the tanks, they ask about the cruelty side of it. But the tank is larger than a normal cistern, so there is a lot of water in it and only a third drains out.
'There is a special valve which ensures the water goes out and in very slowly so the fish aren't disturbed.'
However, the inspector has advised the restaurant that the noise and disturbance distress the fish.