NEWS112
10
to take them, then unfortunately the only
solution is euthanasia. Releasing them is
notanacceptablealternative!Thebest that
canbehoped for is that theanimalswilldie
offduringthe firstwinter,buttheworstcase
scenario is that theywill introducediseases
that cause wild creatures to die a painful
death.
Animal welfare legislation forbids the
inflictingof painonanimalsor killing them
for no justifiable reason. Hence you must
carefully weigh up whether any such
justifiablereasonactuallyexists.Obviouslya
whim, a feeling of dislike, or simple
convenience is no excuse for putting a
healthyanimal todeath!
Noteveryone isguilty!
Unfortunatelysomeneobiotacanbetraced
back to releases by irresponsible aquarists
or terrarium keepers. The "dumping" of
animals andplants is a punishable offence
inmany countries,andnot just abreachof
the rules. The penalty can be a fine or
imprisonment.But is that any reason to tar
a whole group of people with the same
brush? No way! A criminal is just one
offender,even if thepersonconcerned isan
aquarist or terrarium keeper. Almost all
aquarists and terrarium keepers behave
movements,be theynationalistof religious
inorigin, is that initiallynobody takes them
seriously.No littleold ladypensionerwitha
lapdogwould ever dream that the animal
rights organization, to which she has just
donated in order to help needy animals, is
plotting to takeawayher belovedpet; that
in the eyes of that organization her dog is
anenslaved,oppressedcreature.
There is likewiseno reason froma scientific
viewpoint to expand existing conservation
legislation to includeany import restrictions
orblanketbansonmaintenance.
The irresponsible release of unwanted
domestic pets needs to be countered by
educational campaigns, not by laws that
will undoubtedly be ignored by those to
whom theyaremeant toapply. InGermany
(and elsewhere) there is (still) a large
networkofclubs foraquaristsandterrarium
keepers,and these,armedwithmoneyand
ideally support from the government, are
capable of providing the necessary
educational work. Unfortunately the
average age of the people in these
organizations is increasing at an alarming
rate.So for this reason too the state should
take urgent steps to ensure that cultural
elements - and these certainly include
aquarium and terrarium societies! - regain
their popularity among the general public
so as to include young people. It still isn't
too late for that!
conscientiously and correctly. They
shouldn't be punished by import bans or
restrictionsonwhatspeciescanbekept.So-
called positive lists, i.e. lists of species that
canbe tradedon theexpert say-soofGod-
knows-who, should be rejected as
effectively punishing the innocent. The
dumping of animals and plants is
reprehensible,but touse it as thebasisof a
decision to restrict the maintenance of
animals and plants is idiotic. Nobody has
ever suggested a banon themaintenance
ofdogs,cats, rabbits,guineapigs,andother
mammalssimplybecausetheyaredumped
byanumberof criminalpeople.
A liberal democracy that doesn't want to
turn into a brutal police statemust accept
that there are people with no conscience
whowill seek toexploit an intentionally lax
legal system.Thisapplieswithoutexception
to all areas of human society. Responsible
politicians won't allow themselves to be
hauled onto a populist bandwagon and
won't demand that keeping animals in
general and the aquarium and terrarium
hobbies
in
particular
should
be
criminalized.
The thinendof thewedge!
The most powerful weapon of populist
TheChineseMittenCrab (
Eriocheir sinensis
) arrivedaccidentally inEuropearound1910, in larval form in
theballastwater of cargo ships.
Literatur
:
Wilson,E.O. (1992):TheDiverisityof Life.
HarvardUniversityPress,Cambridge,MA.464
pp.
Marbled Crayfishes occur only as females.
Hencea single specimenwill suffice tocreatea
newpopulation.Unfortunately feral specimens
havealreadybeen found inGermany.
