Fish in stores rarely stay there longer than a few weeks. A Platy or a Mikrogeophagus are usually sold within 2 weeks after delivery to the store. Ask Eddy, he worked in stores for years.One can argue that we have in fact done the animal a favor even if providing a diminished lifespan and health, Fish in stores are often stressed and the store does not provide a proper long term environment for them.
Neglectful owners, just as overzealous tank cleaners and constant overmedication, can also shorten a captive fishes life. Also there are many domestic fish that would not survive in the wild in the first place. E.g. domestic bettas. Man made, man responsibility.And Unlike a wild environment there are no predators, droughts, and food shortages in an aquarium.
Yeah... for every responsible fishkeeper there are just as many people that don't care and just want to own a certain fish, no matter what. Have you ever spent some time at a fish store just listening and observing?In concluding this argument we can see that fish in aquarium conditions provided their owner is a diligent one get much better lives even if the conditions are sub optimal, the apparent.
Does it make this any better? It's not an excuse for neglect and animal cruelty. Which can be reported and punished in the EU, btw. We look at this very differently here. Obviously.Legally that animal is one's own property.
If you go for ultimate consequence, yes.And I would say that this individual animal does not posses moral personhood, as such personhood must be consistient if we deem a simple fish deserving of complete moral consideration then we ought to consider fishing a genocide, natural hunting murder, and the separation of fry from a species that parents it's offspring a kidnapping.
It can very much be asked. As the animals we keep are our responsibility. And responsible fishkeeping includes best possible conditions, so any compromise on that caused by keeping specialized species in unspecific conditions is out.As seen here it is not immoral to do so as these fishes do not posses true autonomy, they are not moral persons so it is not a question of morality that can be asked here.
One could, but that's not the point here. This is bordering into whataboutism territory.One could even apply this to the dog, again moral consideration would grant it to us to consider the cattle, pig, and lamb industries a genocide, so one must if they belive dogs deserve moral consideration find a criterion that grants it to them but not to the common domestic mammals we consume regularly.
Also, I'm vegetarian, leaning heavily towards veganism. And it's not even out of considerations of animal welfare but sustainability and environment protection reasons. Meat production is one of our biggest problems.