"No poodle! No poodle for you!" :)
Posted on 06/28/2005 4:23:57 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
An animal rights group wants the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to gut its cafeteria menu of fish and seafood, arguing that "serving fish at an aquarium is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show."
Like Lilo in the animated "Lilo and Stitch," who refused to make a tuna sandwich for her friend, Pudge, a fish, because it would be "an abomination," the head of the Fish Empathy Project for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said serving fish at an aquarium just isn't right. "An institution with a mission that includes teaching people to respect and appreciate marine animals certainly shouldn't serve fish in its cafeteria," Karin Robertson wrote last week in a letter to Jerry Schabel, the aquarium's chairman and chief executive.
Robertson, who runs a website called fishinghurts.com, said recent studies have showed that fish are "intelligent, sensitive and interesting animals."
"Fish are far more intelligent than previously thought, and in some respects their cognitive abilities surpass those of dogs and some nonhuman primates," she wrote to Schabel. "The treatment of both commercially caught fish and fish from fish farms would warrant cruelty-to-animals charges in your state if animals we are more familiar with, like dogs and cats, were treated as badly."
Aquarium officials say they won't ban from their kitchens sustainable seafood, such as tilapia, farmed clams and wild-caught Alaskan salmon, that can be replenished through such means as fish farms. The facility said it co-sponsors a Seafood Watch program with the Monterey Bay Aquarium designed to educate the public about the types of fish that are safe to eat and those to avoid because they are endangered or are caught using methods harmful to other sea creatures.
"Like PETA, we are committed to animals and their conservation, and we appreciate that commitment," Schabel said in a statement Monday. She said some people coming to the aquarium "may want to eat seafood. Rather than eat seafood from unsustainable sources, we stand committed to offering them the alternative of eating only sustainable or environmentally friendly seafood."
The 1.25 million people who visit the aquarium each year can choose from an array of seafood dishes, including clam chowder, rainbow trout and catfish, as well as tilapia and salmon, said spokeswoman Marilyn Padilla.
Despite the aquarium's denying her request, Robertson said she will send letters to other aquariums around the country to point out what she calls the hypocrisy of their menus.
"They should be serving exclusively vegetarian food, not just for the health of their patrons but for the animals they contend to be supporting," she said Monday. "They don't sell elephant burgers at the zoo, and they shouldn't be selling fish at aquariums."
I would love to send PETA to a foreign country that see no problem eating "pets".
"...I wonder what Great Dane tastes like."
I guess they don't realize that fish eat other fish.
Serving poodle-owner burgers at a dog show wouldn't offend me. I'll take two.
The only fish I empathize with is the filet of salmon cooking on my grill.
One of my favorite eating places is Seaworld, at their fine-dining restaurant that is at the level of the shark and large sea-going fish tank. You get to see the divers going down in their cage, some very large fish swimming by - and all this while dining on perfectly cooked grouper, mahi, etc. Works for me!
If only PETA would eat the dogs it leaves in dumpsters, there would be less hunger in the world.
That's ridiculous, poodle has a much rougher texture than fish.
There was this PETA chick on some alphabet soup network the other night...hahahahahaha. She had this shirt with the words "Only Idiots Wear Fur"...or something to that extent.
I was thinking drop her off in that little shirt near some Eskimos and let the beyotch freeze...what a fool. Send her back in time...before synthetic fabrics, to the North East U.S., etc...and let her freeze.
These people are comedy.
It's great, actually. (I know that's weak, but I couldn't resist.)
Mmmmm poodle burgers
They should serve raw steak.
Oodles and oodles of barbecued poodles.
How disgusting! Poodles are much too stringy for decent burgers.
If we could only get them to serve members of PETA at Animal Rights Protests.
Never had a poodle burger. Wonder if they're any good?
"No poodle! No poodle for you!" :)
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