Surrender event seeks unwanted aquarium fish and plants

Duluth, MN--Who’s feeding the fish at your house? If your kids have lost interest in maintaining their aquarium or you are making a move and need to find a new home for your fish, aquarium plants and reptiles, you can “surrender” them to us. Minnesota Sea Grant, The Snake Pit, World of Fish and Animal Allies will host a Habitattitude™ Surrender event on Saturday, September 24, 2016, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Animal Allies, 406 Airport Rd, Duluth, Minnesota. The Habitattitude™ Surrender Collaborative provides a permanent, convenient pet adoption or return option for owners with unwanted pets and avoids potentially harmful releases into the environment. The HSC promotes responsible pet ownership, hosts pet surrender events and includes partners able to re-home surrendered pets. “We know folks have released unwanted pets and plants into local waters, flushed them down the toilet or maybe allowed them to escape,” said Amy Miller of Animal Allies, a co-sponsor of the event. “While release may seem kindhearted, these actions are inappropriate and we want to provide better solutions. Our collaboration locally provides a new solution to this problem.” The most common non-native species released into the Great Lakes region are Brazilian waterweed, water hyacinth, parrot feather, hydrilla, lesser naiad, yellow floating heart, water lettuce, water chestnut, goldfish, koi, pacu, piranha and Oriental weatherloach. “Releasing fish and aquarium plants into Minnesota’s waters is potentially harmful to the environment and native species,” said Ryan Hueffmeier, aquatic invasive species specialist at the Minnesota Sea Grant Program. “Goldfish the size of dinner plates have been found in our rivers and lakes. These fish can become invasive in certain environments and reproduce quickly. They root up plants to find food, which can destroy habitat for native species.”