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In my opinion, taking animals in via “adoption” enables the former owner to act irresponsibly in regards to the hobby. The hobby isn’t something you can pick up and move with and if you have a job that does not allow you to keep your hobby, purchasing animals you eventually can’t care for is irresponsible. When people know they can purchase irresponsibly because someone else will be responsible, it keeps this circle moving.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad someone took the animals in considering they shouldn’t be put down because of someone’s negligence, but… where’s the line? For those aquarists who buy sharks only to grow them up, possibly leaving them deformed from inadequate housing and care, only to dump them off at the local fish shop or –they hope- the zoo, that’s very irresponsible. Keeping an animal you can’t care for is irresponsible.
You set your standards. You want to maintain an aquarium free of irresponsibility. I wouldn’t put my ideal aquarium aside just because something was free or cheap. If you want to do good for that specific animal, that is different than your original goal for the aquarium. It’s up to you to decide what you believe in and want to keep.
But, that’s just a little of my opinion. I could drone on and on about captive animals and coral. :P
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