Massive Pet Goldfish Are Taking Over A Lake Because People Keep Dumping Them
They're growing as large as four pounds.
Being a pet owner is a big responsibility – even if that pet is a fish. But sometimes, even people with the best intentions find after they’ve added a pet into their family to discover they’re not a fit. For dogs and cats, finding another suitable home becomes the focus. But it seems goldfish owners think it’s OK to just dump them into the wild, and it’s caused a big issue.
According to Insider, the common goldfish has become an invasive species overtaking a lake in Minnesota. Why? Well, people have been releasing their pet goldfish into the lake without realizing how massive these fish can grow if they are in a large enough environment, and how much havoc it can wreak on the ecosystem.
Massive goldfish have become an invasive species in a lake in Minnesota where people have released their pet fish, officials say.
“Please don’t release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes,” a message the city’s of Burnsville, Minnesota’s official Facebook page said. The message warned that the goldfish “can contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants.”
Along with the message were some photos of some strikingly large goldfish. Typically, they’re small fish, approximately 4 inches in length. But the ones experts are finding in the lake are like ten times that size.
