Piercing a pet fish sounds sick, right? Many would even consider it to be animal abuse. However, humans have a long history of modifying animals with everything from identification tattoos and brands to cosmetic surgery such as ear cropping, tail docking and toe amputation (or ‘declawing’).

We pierce the ears of cattle to hold fly control and ID tags, and we implant pets with tracking chips. Even anglers give returned fish permanent lip piercings, and that’s without even mentioning the mass imprisonment and killing of animals in the food industry.

Many animal lovers decry the animal body mods shown here as barbaric but, short of turning vegan, when it comes to animal abuse, most of us are involved in far worse treatment being forced on animals than simple piercings.

Still, is piercing a fish acceptable?