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I don't think any child should have any pet without the correct parental supervision, especially not a Goldfish that can be purchased for 99p, and they should never be allowed to buy a Goldfish under the age of eighteen for themselves.

Below is a detailed personal experience and it explains why I have the above opinion, don't read it if you have a weak stomach. Thank you.

99p MURDER

On the afternoon of the 14th of May 2003 between five and six O Clock my daughter came in from playing on the estate were we live in St Peters Arsenal Jersey Channel Islands, she was distressed and obviously traumatized by events she had just seen near enough outside our front door.
A big teenage boy along with two of his friends had been to St Peters Garden centre Jersey Channel Islands, purchased a baby Goldfish for 99p, they had come back to St Peters Arsenal with it, and proceeded to torture the baby Goldfish in front of a number of younger children on the pavement outside. The boy who had bought the baby Goldfish was swinging it around in the bag poking and pinching it, so as he could watch it having a frenzied panic attack, he then tipped a load of the water out of the bag took the baby Goldfish out of the bag, putting it on the pavement to watch it flapping about gasping to breath, and if that wasn't enough his friend picked it up and gave it back to him, so he then pulled its little fins off one by one, and before the poor creature could die he put it back in the bag and stamped on it to crush it to death. Consequently putting the bag and the remains of the baby Goldfish into someone else's dustbin.
My daughter had nightmares that night due to this incident, and the following morning was still too upset to go to school. We took the baby Goldfish in its bag out of the neighbour's dustbin, which was out on the estate, delivered it to The States of Jersey Police Headquarters to report what had happened. To my knowledge another neighbours apart from myself had reported the incident to The St Peters Garden Center, being of the opinion the under age children or teenagers should not be allowed to buy pets without being accompanied by an adult, any more than they are allowed to buy drink or cigarettes. In fact this teenager could just have easily bought any pet, be it a rabbit or whatever and done the same thing!
I was told by The Jersey Animal Shelter that it is a proven fact that this is how murders of human beings start out, they go from pulling the legs off Grasshoppers onto things like Goldfish, then onto larger animals such as cats, dogs, horses and cattle, ending up in some cases then killing children and adult people.
These boys go to Les Quennavais School, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands. I notified the school of what they had done, and the headmaster told me how horrified he was that any pupil of his school could committee such a horrendous act, he along with the Police, the Animal Shelter and the Garden Center are all looking into the matter.
Law cannot name these teenage boys who are around fourteen to fifteen years old, but they are the size of fully grown men, to big for a woman or smaller child to stop from acting in this manner, although some did try to stop them.
I am not sure what the law can or will do about this, but whatever it is will probably not be enough, personally I feel the parents should be made to pay for allowing their offspring to behave like this.
I would hate to be the Judge, because I would bring back the birch, as the deterrents these days is laughable.

Learn more about this author, Linda Corby.
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