Who is “they”? People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, of course. This time the wacky animal rights group is urging fishermen to give up their cruel sport and become vegans.
Taking their anti-fishing campaign to twitter, PETA said: “Fish are sentient individuals who feel pain. Invading an animal’s natural habitat, harassing them, killing them and eating them for fun is so cruel.” PETA then admonishes the anglers of the world: “Don’t go fishing this summer, or EVER!”
Driving their point home, the accompanying video attempts to elicit a mix of compassion and horror when PETA asks the viewers to put themselves in the fish’s place.
“Anglers often try to retrieve hooks by shoving their fingers or even a pair of pliers down a fish’s throat,” PETA spurted. “Doing this doesn’t just rip out the hook, but also part of the fish’s throat and organs. Can you imagine having a hook pierce your face before suffocating to death?”
Then, remarkably equating fish with humans, the video says: “No one deserves this. Try vegan!”
The PETA video then seems to suggest that the capacity to experience psychological “terror” is a function of sensory nerve endings, according to an article in Breitbart.com.
“Pain receptors in fish are strikingly similar to those of mammals. So when fish are hooked, they not only endure physical pain but also terror,” the video says, before going on to describe the death of a fish in heart-wrenching terms.
“When they’re yanked out of the water, they begin to suffocate. Their gills often collapse and their swim bladders can rupture,” it states.
Here is a suggestion for PETA. Since they have demonstrated their penchant for plumbing the depths of absurdity (such as naming a monkey their 2017 Person of the Year), perhaps they could bring attention to the hapless plight of the lowly fish by naming ‘The Incredible Mr. Limpet’ their 2019 Person of the Year!
