Stop the clocks. Cut off the telephone. Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone. ... and pack up your 500 guppies. What I am about to share with you breaks my heart: thanks to some government killjoys, you can no longer get a fish pedicure in the state of Texas.

The Dallas Morning News reports that

Fish pedicures -- in which customers pay to have small fish nibble the dead skin off their feet -- are no longer permitted in the state.

While state officials don't know how many shops offer the service, a state spokeswoman told the paper no one should have been doing them without approval from her agency.

The agency says they're doing this for our own good--they worry that the practice could transmit disease. But have any cases arisen to substantiate such wild claims? No. And business owners take precautions.

In the DMN story, one such owner detailed procedures followed after pedicures:

The foot basins were emptied and cleaned with a disinfectant. ... The fish were transferred to a "hospital tank,” where they were treated with an anti-microbial agent and isolated for at least a day.

Our children will someday speak of these dark times and wonder why this ever happened.

(Photo: piranha. Photo by flickr user marcelometal, used via the Creative Commons license.)