Parents should always be wary of what their children are receiving for trick-or-treating during Halloween night, as you never know what a random stranger might give to your child. And while a Colorado mother’s young daughter didn’t receive anything dangerous per se, she was shocked by what her child brought back home. “Someone gave my 4-year-old a goldfish for trick or treating tonight,” exclaimed the mom in disbelief, sharing a photo of the fish on r/mildlyinfuriating.
While a goldfish isn’t technically dangerous to children, it’s very unwarranted to hand out animals instead of candy to kids on Halloween. “I have NOTHING at home set up for a fish, I know nothing about fish,” the Colorado complains, saying how she’ll need to now go through the trouble of giving the fish away at a pet store because of this. “Please don’t give kids pets for trick or treating,” she begs.
Comments Agreed that Live Animals Shouldn’t Be Treated like Discardable Objects
While many shared their childhood memories of owning and raising a fish, plenty of people in the comments were quite upset that someone thought giving away a live animal for trick-or-treating was a good idea. “What an insane decision. How many of these goldfish they gave out do they think is going to be well cared for?” questions one individual. “Fish are living things and it’s cruel to treat them like discardable objects,” said another. “The house that gave away fish as trick or treat candy? They’d flush it no question,” added a third. Agreeably, it’s quite heartless to just give away what many consider a pet as an object that could be easily disposed of, not to mention a bad experience for the child.
The Colorado mom firmly explains that “it’s NOT just a fish” that has made her upset about this situation. “It’s a big commitment to be giving them out on Halloween to people like me who have no idea how to take care of fish.” Fortunately, she said the local place near her home accepts unwanted pet fish, as her sister gave away hers before joining the military. So hopefully, the fish finds a new home, and the 4-year-old daughter doesn’t have to be traumatized or anything of the sort by flushing the fish or worse.
