City Officials: Giant Pet Goldfish are Being Found in Lakes

One of the pleasures of growing up is learning how to take care of pets. I always say it's just a preview of what you're going to have to do when you become a parent. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's not always easy. But very rewarding. And we had a lot of pets when I was young, and we dearly loved all of them. Even the goldfish.

But one city in Minnesota is finding out the hard way that getting rid of your pet goldfish can turn into a real problem if they are thrown into local lakes. A giant problem. The city of Burnsville recently found large groups of goldfish in Keller Lake, and are warning citizens about the dangers of dumping their pet goldfish in the serene waters. And when we say giant,  we mean that citizens are finding goldfish that have grown to up to 20 lbs. Yikes.

The goldfish problem has gotten so big that the city has partnered up with Apple Valley and Carp Solutions to conduct a fish survey to determine the detrimental effects the large population of goldfish is having on the eco-system of Keller Lake. And they are warning citizens to find another solution to dumping that pet goldfish that they no longer want. They recently tweeted "Instead of releasing your pet goldfish in a local lake or pond, please consider other options for finding them a new home like asking a responsible friend or neighbor to care for it."

Evidently, goldfish can be extremely invasive when released into the wild, and this is not the first time officials have warned citizens against dumping them into local lakes. In 2013 biologists warned the public that the famous Lake Tahoe was being invaded by goldfish that were changing the environment of the water. And again, they were huge. I don't know about you, but this is the stuff of nightmares for me. #Justsayin Just check out some of the photos from the gigantic fish below.