Bodø Police Force Receives PETA Award After Rescuing Abandoned Goldfish

15 March 2016

Group Praises Officers for Showing Care and Respect for Animals

Bodø, Norway – For saving a goldfish who had been abandoned in a jam jar, Bodø police officers have received PETA’s Heroes to Animals Award.

According to news reports, the goldfish was found inside a shopping bag at Nordlandshall indoor soccer stadium, where he had likely been forgotten. After their attempts to locate the fish’s guardian while looking after him in the station proved unsuccessful, the police made the compassionate decision to allow an officer to take the fish home, where Tommy Bech, spokesperson for Bodø Police, says the fish will be “well looked after”. The officers were wise in choosing not to flush the lost goldfish down the toilet – the fate of many unwanted fish – as even if he had survived the shock of being thrown into swirling water, he would ultimately have suffered a painful death in the plumbing or water treatment plant.

“We hope that the police officers’ kind and honourable action will serve as an inspiration to others to respect all animals, no matter how small”, says PETA’s Mimi Bekhechi.

Goldfish are intelligent and social animals who communicate, cooperate, recognise different people and even use tools. They are often bred in giant tubs, deprived of their natural habitat, and condemned to live in small bowls which do not provide enough space or oxygen. Instead of buying live fish, PETA urges fish lovers to leave them in the rivers and seas where they belong and purchase a realistic fish-themed computer screensaver instead.

The Bodø Police Station will receive a framed certificate and a letter of appreciation from PETA.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.