Posted on 08/04/2005 12:02:59 PM PDT by Manic_Episode
Gov. Rejects Request To Make Walleye Off-Limits
(WCCO) Gov. Tim Pawlenty sank an animal rights group's request Tuesday.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked Pawlenty to declare walleye off-limits for fishing.
PETA said a recent study showed fish are smart and feel pain.
In a written statement, Pawlenty said, "The PETA 'Fish Empathy Project' is nutty and misses the mark."
Pawlenty said PETA displayed "goofy judgment" and that fishing was not, as PETA claimed, the same as hooking a dog or cat through the mouth with a large hook and dragging it behind your car.
"Minnesota cares for its natural resources and fishing is part of our way of life," Pawlenty said.
He concluded saying, "Because of the letter, I am going out for a walleye dinner tonight."
My buddy caught an 'eye late afternoon, I caught the same one about 2 hours later. Nice 24" fish--we knew it was the same fish because it had a bulge in its side--probably an old war wound with a muskie. I guess we should count that one as stupid or maybe he loved pain?
bump
You might have caught one of the more challenged ones...or it had masochistic tendencies. :]
I fish for trout here. Many times I have recaught fish with their poor mouths practicly torn off...yet they are still feeding. Now, as for smart...I marvel that I can be skunked so often by a creature with a brain the size of a pea. Its like trying to catch little einsteins.
Or maybe this fisherman needs more schooling.
"PETA treat dogs like people, and people like dogs."
Excellent post.
Nothing more fresh than cleaning them when they are still alive.
Professor James D. Rose of the University of Wyoming reported in the American journal Reviews of Fisheries Science that fish brains were not sufficiently developed to sense pain or fear. At the time he said that responding to threatening stimuli (nociception) was not the same as feeling pain.
“Pain is predicated on awareness,” he was reported as saying in The (London)Telegraph. “Anyone who has seen a chicken with its head cut off will know that, while its body can respond to stimuli, it cannot be feeling pain.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.