People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or more commonlyknown as PETA. Sounds like a charity doesn’t it? It is not! PETAare an organisation that is dedicated, ultimately, to changing theway we eat and live.
FUNDED IN A BIG WAY BY CELEBRITIES AND TYCOONS
PETA are funded in a big way by celebrities, mainly American -where they are based – but also by British and European stars. Thereare also hidden backers, American and British tycoons together withthe many small donations from people hoodwinked by PETA’s glib talkand twisted ‘facts’ about animal and fish welfare. All of this addsto up known assets of approximately 30 million US dollars. That sortof money can buy the best in legal services, which spells danger foranybody who does not agree with them. It also buys very good, slickadvertising, however untrue it may be.
So. What do PETA have to do with us as anglers? Simple really,they wish to abolish angling in its entirety. Coarse, game and sea. No concessions, just the complete abolition of angling because theyhave the twisted idea that fish feel pain and therefore angling iscruel. Never mind the enjoyment that our sport/pastime/art gives tomillions of people both young and old. No consideration for thethousands of disabled anglers for whom fishing is a lifeline from adull, depressive existence; I can personally vouch for that one.
THE USUAL STALE, OLD ARGUMENTS WITH PSUEDO-SCIENTIFIC’EVIDENCE’
Fishing, according to PETA, is cruel and exploitive. The usualstale, old argument is trotted out that sticking a hook in a fish’smouth must hurt and so therefore is cruel. PETA back this claim withtwisted pseudo scientific ‘evidence’. This evidence is, withoutfail, vague and ambiguous. One of their favourite scientific papersis the well-known ‘Medway Report’. PETA carefully select pieces fromthis report to suit their argument. The fact is that this report ishighly inconclusive and was thoroughly discredited in the mid 1980’s- when it was published – by the NFA. PETA try to counter the NFA’sdiscreditation by saying they – the NFA – are hardly unbiased. Sowho commissioned the report in the first place? The R.S.P.C.A. Arethey supposed to be neutral? What of PETA themselves? Are we reallysupposed to believe that they first studied this document withoutbias? The Medway Report simply cannot prove that a fish feelsdiscomfort or pain from being caught on a hook and line.
SPURIOUS CLAIMS
Having read some of the literature dished out by PETA I am franklyamazed at the untruths that are being told. Such spurious claims asfishes eyes being penetrated from the inside! Really? I have neverin the 28 years that I have been an angler come across this onebefore. Another dubious claim is that most fish die even if theyare put back. So what about the many named carp that are caught overand over again at successively higher weights?
A common theme which seems to crop up a lot is a sentence with thewords, “Fish have been known to…”. This is a nonsense comment,which is cleverly used to promote a completely fabricated idea.
MY PERSONAL VIEW
My own, personal view is quite simple and I can back it up. I donot believe a fish feels any pain whatsoever from being pricked by ahook. We know that if we were served up with a plate of food mixedwith thorns, twigs and gravel it would hurt our mouth. If thishappened every time we tried to eat we would either starve or losethe sensitivity in our mouth. Now compare this to how a fish feeds. The bed of a lake or waterway is hardly clean bone china. Surely ifa fish had any feeling in its mouth parts it would be in agonywhenever it tried to feed. Somehow I don’t think nature would haveallowed this particular state of affairs to continue for long. Thatis my argument to counter PETA’s claims against angling.
DON’T BE COMPLACENT
PETA do not stop there though. They also want to ban commercialfishing – both by net and rod and line. Their agenda also includestaking away peoples choice as to whether they eat meat or animalbased products. If PETA got their way it would be goodbye to milk,cheese, eggs, leather shoes, belts and clothing. Remember the antifur campaign of about 10 years ago? PETA were behind that one andlook at how successful it was. They can be highly influential so wemust not be complacent about this threat.
HOW DO WE FIGHT BACK?
Easy! Make sure we do everything by the book and get the publicon our side. Use unhooking mats to make sure our catch comes to noharm. Try moving over to barbless or semi-barbless hooks – PETA makea big thing about the ‘wicked’ barbs on hooks. Don’t leave any bitsof line or hooks behind when you go. This is often used againstanglers and has actually resulted in fishing rights being taken awaybecause of the threat to other wildlife. Take any rubbish with youfor the same reason. I personally endeavour to leave my fishing spotas I found it – or tidier! Don’t give PETA or anybody else anyammunition. Remember, each and every one of us is an ambassador forangling. If you know of any youngsters who might like to get startedfishing take them along and encourage them. The more of us thereare, the better for the future of angling.
Lastly, consider sending a letter to your local or even nationalnewspaper. Let’s get in first and point out just what PETA arereally about. I’ve included a sample letter which you can use eitheras it is or modified. Let’s get the public on our side and we canbeat PETA.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Editor,
May I, through this newspaper, bring to the reader’s attentiona very real threat to the way we live. An organisation, not acharity, called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – PETA -are, on the face of it, crusaders for animal welfare. American inorigin they are currently embarking – through a series of hideous,untrue adverts – on a campaign to abolish angling in thiscountry.
This is merely the tip of the iceberg as they have a hiddenagenda. They wish to ban all sports involving animals, from horseracing to pigeon racing and also to ban the keeping of animals aspets. PETA also want to take away the freedom of choice of whetherto eat meat or fish or their by-products. This means the right toeat eggs and cheese or to have milk on our cereal or in our tea andcoffee. They wish to ban leather products including shoes, belts andclothing. Ultimately, PETA wants us all to be forced to becomevegan.
Why should these rights be taken away from us?
PETA make highly sensational and unfounded claims about animalwelfare and animal rights. Do not be misled by their claims, theycannot be backed up by independent scientific proof. Let’s retainour right to choose what sports we enjoy, what we eat and what wewear.
Don’t let PETA fool you.
Yours faithfully
