Goldfish Have Feelings Too! Um…maybe…

By Rachel Belle

Listen to my story here:

Goldfish, the little fishies that kids win at carnivals who often die on the car ride home, are at the center of an animal rights controversy in the Puget Sound region right now.

Well, kind of.

A couple of bars have been doing Goldfish races, but Tacoma’s Harmon Tap Room put the kabash on them last week.

“Apparently there is video that got out on Facebook and it showed one of the fish falling to the floor, after it jumped out of the trough,” says bartender Joel Cummings. “After that incident we were were getting multiple calls and emails from people saying they were from PETA. And it just got to the point where we were overwhelmed with all the complaints so we decided to give it up.”

Woodsky’s in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood continues to hold the races on Tuesday nights.

“Each fish has a lane and we have a little starting gate,” explains owner Greg Woodsman. “Each person has a squirt gun and they squirt the water and the fish swim down the track and the first one down the line wins.”

Woodsman says people pay $5 to race and the winner takes the pot.

“We haven’t had any problems until about two months ago when there was one person who really didn’t like it, and they wanted to stop goldfish racing.”

That person is Erika Ray, who I chatted on the phone with and who sent a lengthy informational email to KIRO but who refused to do an interview with me.

“She had come in here one night and asked me to stop and I said ‘It’s completely legal, it’s a fun event, we’ve been doing it for a long time and we’re not gonna stop.’ So the next week she showed up with a friend and in the middle of one of the races they got up and flipped the track over and took off, kind of high fiving each other.”

In the process, a couple of fish were killed.

“That’s the only time we had two goldfish die in a race. She flipped the track over and two goldfish died!”

Woodsman says he takes good care of the fish

“If it was an event where every week we did it, and all the fish died, I wouldn’t do the event. That to me wouldn’t be fun, that wouldn’t be something I want to be a part of. But that’s not the case. They race, they go back in the tank, and then they’re there again the next week.”

In Erika’s email she complains that the fish are being physically, psychologically and emotionally traumatized and are being scandalized for profit. She says nothing can be done because goldfish aren’t included in any animal cruelty laws. She’s been handing stickers out in Fremont that read “Save the Goldfish.”

“I just made a deal that said if you bring your ‘Save the Goldfish’ sticker in, we’ll give you 50% off your first drink. I’m just trying to have fun with this. Im not saying that I hate PETA, but we’re not doing that’s against the law in the state of Washington, we’ve been supported by the Chamber of Commerce we’re in.”

I asked bartender Joel if he thinks goldfish racing is cruel to animals.

“Probably, a little bit maybe. But they’re feeder fish. I took care of the fish: cleaned the tank once a week, fed them everyday. Most of them would make it through the race. But, I guess you could see it as animal cruelty.”

But he says he’s glad Woodsky’s is continuing to hold races. His bar has replaced the event with beer pong and, starting this Tuesday, they’re starting weekly turtle races!

“They’re just walking. You’re not egging them on, you’re not touching them in any way, it’s just basically the first turtle across the finish line is the winner. And I don’t see any cruelty whatsoever to the turtles, to tell you the truth.”

We’ll see what Erika has to say about that. To end with a line from her email: “Goldfish may not have fur or legs, but truly, they are our ‘kittens of the sea.'”