Imagine winning a ring toss game at the state fair and being handed a goldfish as a prize. Except the goldfish is as big as your forearm, and the shiny, writhing mass of orange can hardly fit in a bag. Despite the absurdity, that situation could be a reality in Edina. According to the Star Tribune, mutated goldfish in Lake Cornelia are growing over a foot long. These goldfish were never supposed to be in the lake in the first place. Their displacement reflects the harmful way society views pets as commodities, which encourages animal abuse and is a threat to our environment.
Goldfish, while beloved pets, are considered invasive in Minnesota. They made their way into the lake as pets of nearby residents who were abandoned by their owners. It is unclear how many abandoned pet fish started Lake Cornelia’s population. However, according to the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, over 50,000 goldfish were removed from the lake in 2023.
Tossing goldfish into the lake may seem like the more ethical solution for pets that are no longer wanted, but it is actually extremely irresponsible. Pets are not just an interactive toy you can discard as you wish; they are animals capable of feeling pain and fear that require care and commitment. Despite this, most view pets as a capitalistic product anyway. Viewing them as disposable toys that you can toss into the landfill once you are bored with them is much more convenient, after all. You can just get a new fish at Petco for $5 or win one at the fair, where they are likened to other inanimate prizes like lollipops and action figures.
Pets like goldfish are even more neglected than their larger counterparts because they are at the bottom of the tacit hierarchy of pets. Goldfish aren’t interactive like dogs or animated like cats. Their lack of sentimental value to humans makes it easier for us to become desensitized to their abuse. Not only does this explain the commonplace abandonment of goldfish, but it also catalyzes our indifference towards other pets that are “less fun,” such as hamsters.
Unusual hamster death stories have long been a popular joke on the internet, and articles named “Do hamsters only have horrible deaths” and “Hamsters die from literally anything” are ubiquitous. The most famous hamster death story was originally posted in the Reddit community r/teenagers and features a hamster exploding after accidentally eating vinegar and baking soda. According to the poster, “a fizzling noise came from inside [the hamster]” and “bubbles and blood went everywhere.”
This is not an isolated incident.
A study on 16,505 hamsters in the UK showed that the leading cause of death in hamsters, excluding euthanasia, was traumatic injury. These horrendously graphic stories are viewed as lighthearted humor as if the death of a hamster could be compared to the dysfunction of a toy.
Both the hamsters and the goldfish are indicative of larger cultural problems surrounding the way we view and treat our pets. Before you dump your unloved goldfish into Lake Cornelia, consider the effect of your actions—not only on the environment, but on the creature you once selected out of hundreds of others.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Nov. 6, 2025
