Animal cruelty or Medical/cosmetic bliss?

The fish are not harmed, they’re simply exploited. If you eat meat, you should be OK with this.

Vegans & PETA would be offended by this, but I see no problem with it. Sign me up!

Sounds like they’re just doin’ what comes naturally. Do these same people have a complaint about dogs that are used for herding or pulling sleds?

@grumpyfish I though that you might be against it. :-)

We use maggots to eat dead flesh in wounds that won’t heal. Are we exploiting maggots? The fish are eating!

@grumpyfish
My thought exactly.

If it were a cat instead of a fish, would your answers change?

@janbb @faye
I totally agree with both of you, but supposedly there are people who who object to this.

I let little sunfish peck at me when I go to the lake. My cat also likes to nibble on my arms and legs, and usually I let him do it. Am I abusing them? lmao

@JeanPaulSartre I’d be pretty grossed out, but I still don’t think it would be harming the cat. We do have a symbiotic relationship with many animals and they with one another.

My cat is a big baby with a harmless penchant for nibbling on me. It seems to calm him down. After a few good chews he usually falls asleep. Doesn’t gross me out one bit. It’s adorable really. :)

I don’t see the problem. I’m sure the fish would have other food sources too, and if they didn’t like eating dead skin then they would not be used for that. They don’t use goldfish, because I imagine goldfish don’t like dead skin. These fish are obviously scavengers, and they are being provided all the garbage they could wish for. It sounds like fish heaven!

The fish is doing what that fish do. As long as the fish are being treated humanely I don’t see any ethical problems. I think it’s no less humane that having an aquarium.
It’s not like they’re having you stomp the life out of fish in the hopes of having better skin.
I’m sure PETA hates it.

Exploiting fish? NO. Nothing you do to a fish is exploiting it. Fish are not exploitable. Neither are rocks.

Personally I love the idea because it reminds me of the Flintstones where all their appliances were animal powered.
It’s a living

@Captain_Fantasy PETA enjoy hating things. If it wasn’t this, it would be something else just as petty.

@FireMadeFlesh: I wish people would take a good hard look at the other organizations PETA followers also support. There is a lot of overlap among these crazy-based environmental-animal-rights organizations.

@malevolentbutticklish I wish people would look at the intelligence of their members – like Pamela Anderson who didn’t realise that Ugg Boots are made from sheep skin.

@FireMadeFlesh and @malevolentbutticklish You’re generalizing. I’m pretty sure Pam Anderson is not PETA’s smartest member. I’m not a big PETA person, but I’m not big into using animals as our personal groomers either.

@JeanPaulSartre I would potentially be against it in different circumstances, say if monkeys were trained to pick knits from our hair, but these fish are natural scavengers. It is no different from buying scavenger fish for an aquarium to keep it clean. I prefer to think of it as symbiosis.

I’m with @FireMadeFlesh and the others who don’t have a problem with it. As an animal lover (and occasional advocate) I don’t see how the fish could be suffering. If they could be reimbursed for their free meal, that would probably be a bonus and alleviate the protests of the animal rights groups. But since they are not (hopefully) being harmed, are (hopefully) in an environment which mimics their own natural environment, it seems like a win-win for us and the fish.

It’s a symbiotic arrangement at worst.

It’s only animal cruelty if they have to eat the calluses and corns from my feet ^_^