WalMart: Stop selling cruelly treated "Painted" Parrot Fish.

Please join me in asking WalMart Corporation to stop carrying "Painted" Parrot fish. The Blood Parrot Cichlid is a popular fish widely available to fishkeeping hobbyists. It has a bright orange color and some have beautiful stripes. They can live from 8-10 years in a healthy environment. Parrots have spunky personalities, and they often interact with their human owners. But these wonderful fish are subjected to painful and inhumane processes to make them blue, green, purple, and other unnatural colors. These fish are not toys; they are living, breathing creatures that feel pain.

One of the methods used involves needles, which are used to inject dye under the skin. Because only a small area is affected, the fish must be subjected to many punctures to achieve the desired effect. Another recent fad is to use dye injection to tattoo patterns, such as hearts, on the fish. Fish that are injected often contract infections from the puncture sites.

Another method is a barbaric dyeing process. The fish are first put into a caustic solution that strips off their protective outer slime coating. They are then dipped in dye, or injected with dyes, after which they are dipped in another chemical that irritates the flesh to stimulate re-growth of the slime coat. This method is very stressful, and has a high mortality rate.

The bottom line is, painting or dyeing fish is unnatural and inhumane, and it shortens the lifespan of otherwise long-lived pets. WalMart should be satisfied with selling unaltered fish.

Dear WalMart Corporation: Please do not sell "Painted" Parrot fish. These fish are subjected to unnatural and inhumane dyeing processes to make them different colors. These fish are not toys; they are living, breathing creatures that feel pain. In order to be "painted" they are injected with needles multiple times and often wind up with infections. They are also dipped in caustic material which strips them of their natural and protective slime coat. then dipped in dye, and finally their skin is irritated to cause them to reproduce the slime coat. In short, these fish suffer a lot and are unable to live out their natural lifespan. Please only sell unaltered fish at your stores.

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