Oddly, a 66-year-old woman was brought up on such charges for selling a goldfish to a 14-year-old. According to Animal Welfare law, pets cannot be sold to anybody under the age of 16. The pet shop owner has been fined roughly $1800, placed on curfew, and must wear an electronic ankle bracelet for a couple of months. She now also has a criminal record. It cost $30,360 to prosecute this case.
For selling a goldfish. Things are getting scary, now.
I only had to read the first sentence to realize that here's another story from Formerly Great Britain.
I read a piece by Dalrymple a while back in which he relates another FGB story in which a researcher watched goldfish, then was charged under the Cruelty to Animals Act. I haven't found a hard link - he implies that it happened a decade ago - but I'm not surprised.
Posted by: ZZMike | April 02, 2010 at 10:42 AM