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Goldfish fighting ring busted
Pro Mini-Golfer James Hick arrested in scandal
BY TYLER DOMAAS
Statesman staff writer
He was drafted first round of the Mini Golf League (MGL) in 2006. In his hand are six major sponsors and five top place tournament finishes. Yet James Hick, decided to throw it all away.
Last week, Hick was found guilty of illegal goldfish fighting. Officials entered his house early Sunday morning to a shocking scene.
Hick had three goldfish tanks in his living room. Upon taking a closer look, the brutality of the scene sent one official outside to vomit.
Fish food littered one of the fish tanks, making it so one could barely see through the glass.
The next tank sat filled with bubbles from Hick’s bubble bath. The third, and most disturbing one, still had fish in it. Only the fish were in mid battle. They snatched at each other, whipping tails into each other’s faces, not truly doing any damage because goldfish aren’t equipped with anything dangerous.
But the fact that they were fighting disgusted everyone.
Hick was immediately taken away, but unfortunately the goldfish in the first two tanks were already dead. Autopsies are under way to determine the exact cause of death.
“This is terrible and shocking,” said Hick’s neighbor. “I can’t believe something this awful was going on right in our own neighborhood.”
“I have a goldfish, and the thought of it being in a fight or sitting in a bubble bath sends chills down my spine,” said another neighbor. “I don’t know how anyone can be so cruel.”
When investigators traveled through Hick’s house, it was clear that the horror went much deeper than anyone could have ever imagined.
“We found shattered fish tanks, spilt fish food and well fed cats,” said the lead investigator. “The lack of cat food anywhere in the house makes it easy to understand what has gone down here.”
Hick was found to be high up in the fish fighting world. The fights were held at his place, and major money passed through from large bets. His team, the “Bad Newz Fish Tanks,” was well known across the world of fish fighting.
When fish wouldn’t perform well in training, Hick would feed them to cats or flush them down a toilet; a truly horrifying scene. The fights are done by placing the fish into a tank and watching them battle until one dies.
Fights usually take about three days to end because the fish really don’t fight each other. They just swim around doing nothing. After a while they might bump heads or send a tail whip one way. When one dies, it’s usually from starvation.
When asked to comment on the whole ordeal, Hick responded, “I didn’t know it was illegal.
” Because of this lack of knowledge Hick now shares a prison cell with a former football player.
“If you thought fish fighting was bad you should hear what this guy has done,” said Hick about his cellmate.
