I was a BAD boy!!

Look out the fish police will be all over you for this lol.

 

Not the first fish to return to the ocean that way and probably not the last! lol

 

I guess I would have offered him to other members for free before flushing him, or took him to the LFS & traded for a thing of small food or something.

 

*jaw drop, forehead slap*

Okay I'm gonna go crazy on your *** for a minute, I apologize in advance for a bruise you'll have for the next week:

IDK why anybody would ever admit this to the public community. I'm prepared to make a federal case out of this one, but I'll constrain myself. You should be truly ashamed of yourself. Aside from the fact that you, like the general public, neglected to consider the possibility that fish are sentient beings (a reality for anybody who has a long term relationship with their fish (especially tangs)), aside from that, you've added more fuel to critics fire. There are groups out there who seek to destroy and end our hobby. Considering the appreciable amount of other perils reefs face (eutrophication, acidification, sedimentation, habitat degradation, estuary destruction, erosion, tourism, commercial food and ornamental harvest) there very well may be a day in the near future when officials decide that ornamental harvest is uncalled for and therefore banned.

I've spent a long time arguing with opponents of the marine aquarium trade. One of their accusations (among many others) is that 90% of all fish imported die within their first year, to which I've countered:

"When you think about it, there's an easy way to distinguis­h between responsibl­e, tentative, eco-minded aquarists and the masses responsibl­e for the type of plunder that has driven Wintner to extremes. Clubs like the Marine Aquarium Societies of North America are filled with experience­d and dedicated individual­s who help new aquarium keepers foster respect and healthy practices for the animals they keep."

That is still a statement I believed in when I wrote it, but I haven't always. After spending years working in a fish store and witnessing the public's general ignorance for practices, disdain for advice, and disregard for fish as sentient animals capable of feeling pain, responding to stimuli in a calculative manner, and long term cognitive recognition, my faith in the aquarium keeping community was broken. In these and many other ways I can understand, and respect the arguments against ornamental marine fish keeping (although some are poor at building their arguments).

Naturally, I cruised the forums on RC for many years until finding our own local MASNA club right here, and I realized that there were these great communities of people all over the nation filled with experienced and dedicated aquarium keepers just like me, who are willing to help each other out, are a vast repository of information, and provide a guidance for reef aquarium keepers in their infancy. When I discovered this community, I discovered peace of mind for the animals we keep, hope for the future of our hobby, and a group of people doing something that's collectively more than just aquarium keeping. As a biologist, I have for the most part forsaken man kind to their own devices, but here I found, for the first time, something beautiful in the nature of humanity itself, a community educating one another in light of reef keeping not as a hobby, but as a life style.

That's my lecture and sermon for the week. Seriously though, make a concerted effort to think about your actions.

Alright, it's off my chest. Peace
-ANdy

 

Well said Andy and I agree. 
If the puppy is being neglected/abused and, if you talked with your neighbor about it and your thoughts, there is something that could be done Kyle as I'm sure you know.  This world would be a better place if people were more considerate and compassionate.  You can come out of the corner now Kyle/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif

 

Told yea

 

Dr. Stiles at central campus  would take anything with open arms, plus she's got nice tanks. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif