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PETA hooks the wrong fish
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | 07/29/05 | Eric Heyl

Posted on 07/28/2005 9:29:48 PM PDT by smoothsailing

PETA hooks the wrong fish

By Eric Heyl

Friday, July 29, 2005

I was in a custom auto shop yesterday, and as you might imagine, the topic of whether fish are capable of experiencing pain was broached.

I know, I know. Seems like you can't take a car in to be turbo-charged these days without having a discussion on the sensory capabilities of cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates.

"I never really thought too much about it before," said Meagan Barker, co-owner of Strict Fab Automotive Solutions on Route 51 in Jefferson Hills. "But no, I don't think a fish can actually feel a hook in its mouth."

Barker is thinking about such things with greater frequency since her exposure to the latest outlandish publicity stunt by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA is protesting the sadistic animal cruelty it believes will occur in town this weekend at the CITGO Bassmaster Classic. The radical animal rights group is using as its tool an ad on a huge billboard directly above Strict Fab.

The ad features a computer-altered picture of a dog with a fish hook through its bloody lip and poses the question," If you wouldn't do this to a dog, why do it to a fish?"

Possibly because dogs and fish aren't really comparable creatures.

You can't walk, pet or groom a fish.

Try asking a bass to fetch a stick.

Or submerging a dog -- of any breed -- under water for a prolonged period. A few initial yelps of protest are liable to be followed by uninterrupted silence.

When it comes to animal blood sport, fishing never has ranked up there with pit bull fighting. Scientists and zoologists can't even agree on whether fish are intelligent enough to be cognizant of pain.

Given those facts, it's...

(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: fish; homegrownterrorist; peta; terrorist
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To: Petronius
I gather you've never had Chinese take-out.:)
21 posted on 07/28/2005 11:02:52 PM PDT by smoothsailing (Qui Nhon Turtle Co.)
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No, fish cannot feel pain.

But I heard a carrot scream once.


22 posted on 07/28/2005 11:09:52 PM PDT by D-fendr
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To: smoothsailing

Fish whopper: 646 pounds a freshwater record

23 posted on 07/28/2005 11:18:38 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: taxesareforever
Never heard of a dog that could live underwater.

Seals and Sea Lions come pretty close. They are pretty much dogs with flippers. They even bark.

24 posted on 07/28/2005 11:23:19 PM PDT by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: Calpernia
WOW! That's gonna take at least a 55 gallon drum of tartar sauce!
25 posted on 07/28/2005 11:24:09 PM PDT by smoothsailing (Qui Nhon Turtle Co.)
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To: smoothsailing

A fish can't run alongside when you ride your bicycle...(maybe the fish needs one, too..).


26 posted on 07/28/2005 11:25:59 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (Grant no power to government you would not want your worst enemies to wield against you.)
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To: smoothsailing

Along with a hefty helping of Freedom Fries!


27 posted on 07/28/2005 11:26:17 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: smoothsailing

I had a golden retiever that would stay in the water as long as you let him! Never had him hunt oysters though as I never took him to the ocean. If he could have breathed under water I don't think I would have been able to get him out of it:)


28 posted on 07/28/2005 11:27:34 PM PDT by calex59 (If you have to take me apart to get me there, then I don't want to go!)
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To: calex59
Water dogs are magical friends aren't they! :^)
29 posted on 07/28/2005 11:33:09 PM PDT by smoothsailing (Qui Nhon Turtle Co.)
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To: Petronius
Why is it okay to eat pigs (not only eat, but manufacture & process them like widgets), but not okay to eat dogs, cats, monkeys, and dolphins?

Eating such animals is a commonly-accepted practice.

...just not in our culture.

30 posted on 07/28/2005 11:37:24 PM PDT by Prime Choice (Thanks to the Leftists, yesterday's deviants are today's "alternate lifestyles.")
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To: Smokin' Joe
LOL!

I've never seen a fish on a bike, but my lab could ride a surfboard!

31 posted on 07/28/2005 11:38:39 PM PDT by smoothsailing (Qui Nhon Turtle Co.)
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To: smoothsailing

It is kind of a poke at the old lesbian saw about "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle".


32 posted on 07/28/2005 11:48:46 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (Grant no power to government you would not want your worst enemies to wield against you.)
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To: smoothsailing

Fish respond to injury the same way they respond to many other stressors -- rapid swimming with back-and-forth motions. While not definitive, this suggests that fish react to stress/danger/badthings, but do not really have distinct pain. Not that I'm addressing the ethics of causing stress/danger/badthings to fish, just the idea that fish experience what humans call pain.


33 posted on 07/29/2005 12:21:07 AM PDT by Caesar Soze
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To: Prime Choice
Eating such animals is a commonly-accepted practice.

One which we describe with terms like "barbaric," "primitive," "savage," and a wealth of others I can't post here. My question is this: How is the eating of pigs more enlightened and morally justifiable than the eating of dogs?

Falling back on the ol' our-culture-does-it = morally right breaks down for these types of issues. (Our "culture" permits abortion, does that make it right??) The Bible condemns it, as do most moral philosphers (for different reasons of course.)

34 posted on 07/29/2005 12:26:35 AM PDT by Petronius (Hunter S. Thompson: Shine On You Crazy Diamond!)
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To: FreedomCalls
Never heard of a dog that could live underwater. Seals and Sea Lions come pretty close. They are pretty much dogs with flippers. They even bark.

Yeah, but seals and sea lions don't leave a pile of doo in your backyard.

35 posted on 07/29/2005 12:28:51 AM PDT by taxesareforever (Government is running amuck)
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To: smoothsailing

I have fished for many years on hundreds of lakes. And not once has a fish complained about it's treatment or even given me a dirty look.


36 posted on 07/29/2005 12:33:51 AM PDT by BigCinBigD
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To: BigCinBigD
Maybe they're just shy!
37 posted on 07/29/2005 12:39:58 AM PDT by smoothsailing (Qui Nhon Turtle Co.)
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To: smoothsailing
I like to imagine the fish I catch and release telling their friends that they abducted by aliens. Taken up to a strange ship,given a medical exam,measured and returned. The other fish are all like.Yeah sure you were. :o)
38 posted on 07/29/2005 12:42:34 AM PDT by BigCinBigD
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To: smoothsailing
I love fishin'.

I get plenty of double-takes when I catch bass and catfish on my fly-rod, that's for sure.

I also have a great time dove hunting. Nothing like being out in a field in the early morning or late afternoon when the Mexican White Wings are out and about. My group of 10 huntin' buddies from my Presbyterian* Church love nothing more than whopping it up when one of those little turbo charged F16s is knocked down. My 13 year old daughter loves cleaning my fish and dove.

What a great country.

*PETA=Presbyterians Eating Tasty Animals (Not the PCUSA, but the PCA)
39 posted on 07/29/2005 12:42:45 AM PDT by Gamecock (We don't beat "nice" people to a bloody pulp, nail them on a cross and then watch them suffocate.)
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To: smoothsailing
What does a fish feel when it is eaten by another fish?

Does a fish have a right to eat another fish?

Do I have as much of a right to eat a fish as another fish does?

Serious minds want to know! (ROTFLMAO!!)

40 posted on 07/29/2005 1:03:49 AM PDT by nightdriver
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