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From the Editor

Corner store goldfish

By Judi McLeod
Saturday, October 29, 2005

Overcast fall weather finds me tramping to the local convenience store in my new Beach neighbourhood. Forgetting the outside weather while trying a new recipe in the kitchen means a trip to the store.

It was there while searching through dusty bottles of apricot jam that I spotted a lone goldfish swimming friskily in his bowl on a high shelf. across from the stacked tins of tuna, the darting goldfish was a cheerful reminder of life. I smiled when my memory flashed back to Sylvester Stallone feeding his goldfish as the bachelor named, "Rocky", and left the store in the kind of mood, which told me that the sun was bound to someday come back to Toronto.

Lucky for the storekeeper that he's in the Toronto Beach and not in Rome, which has banned goldfish bowls.

The City of a Million Stray Cats has caved in to animal rights activists who say goldfish bowls are cruel.

In Toronto, we make fun of the clowns on council who ban things like the common leaf blower and make it illegal to rid your lawn of dandelions with weed killer. In Rome, city council has made regular dog walking mandatory.

"The moves came after a national law was passed to allow jail sentences for people who abandon dogs or cats," says the Herald Sun.

It's good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention," said Monica Cirinna, the councillor behind the bylaw.

"The civilization of a city can also be measured by this," she told Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper.

The newspaper reported round bowls caused fish to go blind.

Funny how no politician could be found to confirm that round bowls were the reason why goldfish were banned. However, many experts could be dug up to say that round bowls provided insufficient oxygen for fishies.

Here's hoping that Toronto Councillors Sandra Bussin and Pam McConnell don't find out that back in July of 2004, Roman Parliament passed a law setting big fines and jail terms for people who abandoned pets, and that since then local government have added their own animal welfare rules, many of which are too difficult to police.

In T.O., it would be cruel and inhumane to put a cat or dog in the backyard because felines and canines come second to raccoons, which to local council should be as protected as dandelions.

Only last april, the northern city of Turin rubberstamped a bylaw to fine pet owners up to 500 euro ($821.69) if they did not walk their dogs at least three times a week.

Politicians worldwide, we know for certain, exercise their dogs at least three times a day.

Meanwhile the bright little goldfish swimming in his round bowl at the convenience store is better off than the nearby tuna.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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