Posted on 10/08/2004 10:13:50 AM PDT by neverdem
Darn, we missed it.
Sept. 25 was designated ``Turn in Your Tackle Day'' by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and I forgot to get it done.
The animals-before-people group targeted recreational anglers for their combined wrath, and had marked Sept. 25 as the day for all of us who are feeling guilty about barbing bass, snatching snook and whacking wahoo to get it off our conscience by turning in our instruments of torture.
PETA has one bureaucrat with what has to be the politically correct job title of the decade: fish empathy project manager. And readers of this column won't want to miss the Web site FishingHurts.com - you'll find urgent suggestions such as substituting a tasty slab of tofu for your grouper fillets, demonstrating at local fishing tournaments, asking local government to ban fishing in local lakes, and retiring the fishing merit badge for Boy Scouts. They don't want us wearing leather shoes or riding on leather auto seats, eating hamburgers, or using animals to develop new drugs that might save millions of human lives.
Presumably they also oppose the use of animal products in dog and cat foods. While my dogs will eat pretty much anything that hits the floor, including erasers and cardboard, my cats eye anything that does not come out of a Friskies can with great suspicion. Veggies are not among the things they deign to consume. Some of this would be laughable were it not for the numbers of people who have bought into this silliness over the past 24 years. PETA claims 800,000 members, and if those are all paying members at $16 a pop - or more - that's more than $12 million a year they have to lobby for wiping out our favorite sports. And they have proven very good at getting public attention.
Actually, if PETA could restrain its more radical elements, there are some ideas for rational people to support in the program. They value all life on the planet, right down to caterpillars and catfish, as we all rightfully should. They're a strong voice in stopping cruelty to animals of the sort that no decent person can tolerate, including dog fights and rooster fights. But the fact they actively are trying to destroy hunting and fishing makes them a danger to sportsmen everywhere, and by extension to wildlife management areas, huntable wildlife and recreationally targeted fish, all of which have benefited enormously as a result of billions of dollars worth of support from sportsmen in the past 70 years.
FISHING SHOW: The Florida Sportsman Fishing Show comes to Florida State Fairgrounds east of Tampa next weekend. The show includes an 80,000-square-foot tackle and boat supermarket, plus continuous how-to seminars at Expo Hall.
Show director Robin Smillie said the hands-on learning aspect of the show is the major draw.
The show also features casting instruction for kids. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $7 for adults and free for children under 12 with parents. Discount coupons are at www.floridasportsman.com
SEMINARS: Rusty Chinnis, outdoors editor of the Anna Maria Sun and an Orvis fly-casting instructor, presents a free seminar Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club meeting at Compton Park Rec Center in Tampa Palms. Non-members are welcome. ... Captain Randy Rochelle joins captain Mel Berman of WFLA, 970 AM, for an offshore clinic Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Park Auto Mall, 8000 Park Blvd. in Pinellas Park. For more information, call (727) 545-3100. ... Captain Dave Pomerleau presents a free snook seminar Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Minnows & Monsters Tackle, 3811 S. Manhattan Ave., Tampa; (813) 835-1512. ... Captain Larry McGuire presents a free grouper/snapper seminar Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Boater's World on State Road 60 in Brandon.
QUOTA PERMITS: Leftover quota permits are available from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for hunting on state wildlife management areas this fall. Some 5 million acres of public lands are available. Visit www.MyFWC.com for details.
CONDITIONS IMPROVE: Despite dirty water, trout are becoming active around Tampa Bay, particularly in waters beyond the Sunshine Skyway, where Gulf tide changes are helping to clear the murk. Anglers fishing potholes near the mouth of the Manatee River reported good catches last week.
This story can be found at: http://outdoors.tbo.com/outdoors/MGBTWGXFUZD.html
How's this for a thought, PETA? If cows can't be eaten or milked they are going to go extinct. You ever think if that? How many of you freaking PETA nuts are going to want a cow as a pet? You ever been around a cow when it farts? You ever seen what a cow pie on your living room carpet looks like? Or how about the flies you are going to have at your TOFU barbecue because of all the cow dung in your yard. You'll be slaughtering cows before you know it and there will be none left. You will then be able to put yourselves in the same category as the sailors who slaughtered the dodo birds into extinction.
LOL!
LOL - I have some huge tri-barb snagging hooks with about 4 oz. of lead in the center of it - I wonder what the charge would be if I cast that thing into a group of peta people with 100 lb test and started trolling down the road in my SUV. Bet they fight pretty good when they see the filet knife come out.
Why would you want to foul a perfectly good hook on trash fish...
I used to keep rats, but their lifespans are too short. I would be crushed every time one would die on me, so I got a cat instead.
LOL!
Michael Jackson even wrote a song to one.
PETA? "People Eating Tasty Animals".
Come to think of it, what DO they eat? Roots and berries?
Also, I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks vegetarians are hypocrytes because they have so many recipes to make tofu taste like meat?
How many people would like to live next to these PETA people just so you can "accidently" throw over a couple of steaks to their pooches?<<
Once, back in the 1980's I met a "vegetarian" couple. They had a new kitten that looked real thin, they spoke how the kitten would not eat.
Long story short, the kitten was near starvation because they were feeding it LETTUCE! I sa the poor little thing actually trying to eat it!
Yes. I took care of the situation. I've had contempt for all vegetarians since then.
The cats or the vegetarians?
one person I know is a definite vegetarian, but not vegan. I asked about the pet situation once and they even said animals were made to eat meat -- and that's what they feed the pets.
I think we should declare September 25th as "Blast Bambi Day" and work for a National Hunting day on that date.
They do not believe in 'pet ownership' either. I would like to throw a steak at a PETA member, but it would be a waste of beef.
Just let me see one of those hippy corksuckers in the woods while out I'm huntin'!
"Starchild....where's Moonbeam?" "Starchild...?"
:-)
Prime, you crack me up! Had a college roomy who had a pet rat. I would let it out when he was entertaining a 'lady friend'. Amazing how many times he could herd them to his room for 'safety'.
I've met one or two who were charming, but nevertheless, whacked out.
Hope that means the veggies were eating soup for a month.
That's the hard part...especially with the hard luck cases. It's said that the brightest lights burn out the fastest, and that's true with the ratties. But every now and then, one of them just stands out as a testament of the strength of kindness.
One little guy I rescued was in a real bad way; missing most of his tail, missing an entire hind foot, and had two maimed feet. I didn't think he'd live to another three days. Broke my heart. So I took him home and saw to it that he'd know what a good life was like before he passed away.
That was March of 2001...he passed away peacefully in his sleep in February of this year. His estimated age was 3 and 1/2 years. That's like you or I living to be 130 years of age.
I always took very good care of my dudes, but none of them ever made it past 2.5 years. You're very lucky to have had one around for that long.
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