Can I prosecute a pet shop?
you’d actually have to have damages in order to sue the pet shop owner in court, as pets are considered to be property – therefore, if your fish died as a result of the disease, either the ones you previously owned and/or the ones the pet shop owner sold you, the most you’d be able to collect would be the cost of replacing the fish… also, keep in mind, there are filing fees when going to small claims court…therefore, it probably wouldn’t be worth it monetarily… as no court is going to give you any money for emotional trauma that possibly occurs as a result of your fish dying. if you’re truly just concerned about the possibility of the pet shop selling fish that they know to be diseased, i’d ask to speak to the store’s manager about it, and hopefully, he/she will stop any more of those diseased fish from being sold….if that gets you nowhere, then you could file a complaint with the company’s headquarters – that could very well help solve it, as they certainly don’t want bad publ
Most pet shops don’t give advice on quarantining fish. It is the best, and safest thing to do. It isn’t common knowledge among non-experts but all new fish should be quarantined for at least two weeks before being introduced to your main tank (preferably a month). I had a guppy infected with a fungus called Columnaris infect all my guppies and kill all but two adults and 6 babies. Now I quarantine fish before putting them in my main tank. In this time you should treat any new fish for parasites (these can hide for a long time before showing any problems) and any other diseases that pop up. As far as what to do about treating your goldfish, I really can’t tell you. I deal with tropical fish. To get better advice on how to deal with cold water fish (especially goldfish which can be finicky to treat) I would go to a goldfish Forum, like this one http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.co… and ask them for
The fact that you put them in a tank making it massively overstocked and didn’t quarantine them means you’ve got no case really. The only way the pet shop would have done something wrong is if they gave you written instructions telling you to put 6 large messy pond fish in a tank big enough for one fancy goldfish and not to quarantine new fish Unfortunately not knowing any better doesn’t work in court and verbal advice isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
