750 Animals Will Be Tormented for Fun in Cruel Fishing Event
For Immediate Release:
April 11, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Lake Ridge, Va. — After learning that the Lake Ridge Parks and Recreation Association plans to throw 750 rainbow trout into a swimming pool and encourage residents to "fish them out" during its week-long "Fish Out" event, PETA contacted Lake Ridge Association General Manager Ron Pereira to ask him to replace the "fish out" with a humane celebration. Because Pereira has yet to commit to canceling the event, PETA has now posted an action alert on its popular website asking citizens to contact Pereira and urge him to make the right decision.
"What about impaling animals on a metal hook and dragging them into the open air to suffocate says 'family fun'?" asks PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "With so many other pool activities to choose from, there's simply no excuse for tormenting fish for entertainment."
Fish are complex beings who have personalities, communicate, and even form bonds with each other. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that fish feel pain, and being skewered by a metal hook and yanked into an environment in which they can't breathe is agonizing. If cats or dogs were the victims of similar abuse, the perpetrators would be thrown in jail for cruelty to animals.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.