Be wary of owning your own Dory fish
Animal welfare campaigners fear goldfish will be left floundering with the release of new fishy tale, Finding Dory.
More than a decade ago, Finding Nemo sparked a massive rush for goldfish among youngsters who had been left spellbound by the film, only for the pets to be left unloved and unwanted.
The animal welfare charity warned how goldfish are often a child’s first animal but all too quickly become the “forgotten pet”.
The charity says over the past five years it has collected almost 10,000 fish after calls from the public and is expecting more unwanted and neglected fish to come into its care with the release of Finding Dory.
RSPCA exotics scientific officer Alexandra Jones warned today: “Sadly, many owners who buy exotic pets on impulse after seeing a film or TV show don’t find out how to care for the animals first.
“When they then realise how much space and care the animal requires they can lose interest, or feel unable to care for them anymore. As a result, exotic pets are often abandoned, given up to animal rescue centres or released into the wild.
“Many people bought clown fish after the release of Finding Nemo in 2003 which led to a large number of fish being neglected or dumped when they grew too large or were more difficult to look after than expected. We are bracing ourselves for a similar trend once again.”
With the feel good film set to be one of the big cinematic events of the summer, the RSPCA is also hoping to put a metaphorical smile on fishy faces by making their lives better.
It is providing owners with information on how to care for fish on its website at rspca.org.uk/fish and is also promoting its Big Fish Campaign.
So-called Tank Busters include red-tailed catfish, giant gouramis as well as certain species of pleco catfish.
The charity says many of these fish end up being given up to public aquariums because owner did not fully research these fish and so may have been unaware of their adult size.