Provocative Protest Set for Pensacola in Wake of 'Fishing Rodeo'
For Immediate Release:
June 15, 2012
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Pensacola, Fla. -- Holding signs that read, "Don't Let Your Kids Become Hookers," and handing out newly designed leaflets that show a gruesome picture of a hooked fish, PETA members will take part in a new anti-fishing campaign in the wake of the Sixth Annual Fishin' Chix Pink Rubber Boots Ladies Fishing Rodeo. PETA's point? That parents who fish send their children the dangerous message that it's acceptable to torment and kill animals.
When: Monday, June 18, 12 noon
Where: Flounder's Chowder House, 800 Quietwater Beach Rd., Pensacola Beach
"Parents should get their kids hooked on compassion, not on maiming and killing fish," says PETA campaigner Hayden Hamilton. "Causing these gentle animals of the sea to suffocate to death or die slowly from infections caused by hooks is animal abuse, plain and simple."
Fish are intelligent, sensitive animals who experience stress and pain when they are cruelly hooked or hauled up from the deep in commercial nets. Fish who are caught and released also experience pain and often die from their injuries. The journal Fish and Fisheries cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence demonstrating that fish are smart, that they can use tools, and that they have impressive long-term memories and sophisticated social structures.
For more information about PETA, please visit PETA.org or FishingHurts.com.