Why you Should NEVER Release Pets into the Wild

Now that your turtle is too big for its tank, think it'll be better off in the wild? Nope! Same goes for goldfish. Releasing pets into habitats where they're not native to is a very bad idea. Watch this video to see what happened to a local lake when a few goldfish were released!

Music by BenSound and YouTube studio library used under the Creative Commons License.

[SnakeDiscovery]

To those of you who are concerned about the way we euthanized the fish, that was how the DNR instructed us to do it in order to legally remove them from the lakes. We were required to put them on ice.

As much as I would have preferred to use Club Soda instead, my first priority is to make sure everything is done legally.

[tots]

Kid releases goldfish into water:
Goldfish: it's free real estate

[phoenixfire]

This seems to be a very ecologically (and economically) responsible way to feed your pets. Invasive species management is a bonus

[crystalwu]

For people who don't understand what invasive means. An invasive animal means an animal that is not suppose to be in an area. Some people might say "Well whats wrong with introducing new animals to different places?" It might seem harmless but it has A LOT of negative effects. It's like some stranger living in your house and eating your food.

[genericname]

Oh wow seeing those HERDS of invasive goldfish was nothing short of horrifying. Even knowing you guys picked out a solid 40, there were HUNDREDS left. To think that all happened from maybe one or two pet goldfish. Scary!

[izumiruki]

It boggles my mind to see that some people don't even bother to read or listen to what Snake Discovery has posted/said regarding this whole situation and get all bloody upset. While I don't like the idea of killing animals even fish, it had to be done because the gold fish are an invasive species and were disrupting the ecosystem, which could be detrimental. Also, they have stated that using clove oil would have a negative effect on their reptiles that they would be feeding the fish to AND not to mention, they were required to put the fish on ice in order to get it done LEGALLY.
READ, PEOPLE, READ, before you fly off the handle!

[pixelatedcherry]

When seeing the huge school of goldfish I thought it would be so satisfying to get a huge net and just scoop them all up.

[iridiumSerpent]

Emily catching invasive goldfish with her bare hands like a ninja

[Midnightstar]

If you’re sad about the goldfish dying then you should be *more* sad about all the native species the goldfish are killing! It’s not their fault people are ignorant about releasing them but culling is the only way to stop the native animals from starving horribly and mass dying. The ripple effect of invasive species can be devastating and cause *more* awful deaths. They’re spending their time volunteering to do important work and deserve huge kudos for this public service.

Death is a natural part of the cycle of life, I’ll never understand people who love animals but don’t understand that culling is an important part of saving wildlife and get angry at people who do it. Culling even happens naturally sometimes. They did it as responsibly and as humanely as they were allowed to do

[robloxaddict]

I wonder if the person who caused this watched this

[NessaWyvern]

6:47
As someone doing an ecology degree, seeing this many goldfish is pretty horrifying.

[cheesebatto]

Rex is a dragon. She is hoarding the gold.

[aubreysturgeon]

Listen yall I'm deeply disappointed about the amount of people that would rather care about the safety and life over an invasive species (aka the goldfish) rather than the entire ecosystem. Emily and Ed work hard to keep the animals and ecosystem around them as safe as possible and now it's suddenly a crime to clear out the problem in which is causing and unbalanced ecosystem. I'm sure If nobody cared about this topic it would be far worse and the decline of the surroundings species would have been way more dramatic. It's the circle of life. Please stop hating on people who are trying to save the ecosystem. Don't wake up and choose hate. Keep it to yourselves. Ed and Emily I'm very happy there are people as wholesome and caring as you guys in this world yet I'm deeply disappointed in the people whom hate on people like you. ❤

[Manda_Kat]

When you release your animal into the wild to give them a 'better life' what you're actually doing is basically just saying: "I don't want to take care of this living creature with it's own needs and I'm too lazy to find someone to take them, so I'm going to abandon them in an environment that they have likely never been even close to before, filled with things that will either hurt them or that they will hurt. My animal will most likely die young, but I'm not going to think about that, I'm just going to imagine it finding others of it's kind and singing kumbaya around a campfire so that I can pretend I did the right thing!"

[kendraknaggs]

People disliking a video of 40 goldfish being killed by the people who literally paid a vet to operate on a wild snake whom they have to hand feed now cause it has no eyes... Haha wow... there is not a cruel bone in Emily's body. I can't believe this video has that many dislikes. SMH

[jadacameron]

Giving you a like for getting straight to the point!!! No rambling intro.

[blackmailed]

I respect the cause as removing invasive species is something we don't have enough of!
But damn, is it sad seeing all these fish that are gonna get euthanized because of someone releasing their prior pet into the wild.

Please never release your pets into the wild.
The original fish could've been given to someone more capable to avoid this type of incident, and the native species don't have to lose their food/space.

[noodledoodle]

When you're trying to get good sea Pokemon but keep running into magikarp

[ElkorGod]

Rex: you see, you invasive aholes?
You are *nothing but a toy to me.*

[nogedoge]

_This_ is how you become an environmentalist. Doing our part in supporting balance in our native ecosystem helps keep it alive and healthy. Free pet food is an added bonus. Love the video.