Hurling Dead Fish Into a Toilet Sends Kids the Wrong Message, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
November 1, 2011
Contact:
Kristin Richards 202-483-7382
Terra Ceia, Flo. -- PETA sent a letter today to Robert Zonies, president of the Terra Ceia Village Improvement Association, urging him to cancel plans to hold a "mullet toss"—in which contestants throw dead fish into a toilet bowl. The toss is set to take place during the Terra Ceia Island Annual Mullet Smoke-Off. In the letter, PETA points out that fish are sensitive animals who feel pain just as all animals do and that scooping them up in a net, allowing them to slowly suffocate to death, and then tossing their bodies into a toilet sends the reckless message that killing another being for the sake of a petty game is acceptable. PETA learned of the event following complaints from local residents.
"If it would be wrong to make a game out of tossing dead kittens and puppies into a toilet, then it's wrong to do it with fish," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Terra Ceia could easily toss horseshoes, bean bags, or bocce balls instead of the bodies of animals who have been pulled from their homes and suffocated to death."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to the Terra Ceia Village Improvement Association follows.
November 1, 2011
Robert Zonies
President
Terra Ceia Village Improvement
Association
Dear Mr. Zonies,
I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 3 million members and supporters, including thousands in Florida, to urge you to cancel your association's plans to toss dead fish into a toilet bowl during the Terra Ceia Island Annual Mullet Smoke-Off and consider alternative fundraisers in the future. The "mullet toss" is a degrading and disrespectful waste of life, and it sends the message to children that it's acceptable to cause an animal to suffer a terrifying and painful death just for some cheap laughs. Going forward, we hope you'll stick to events that don't exploit animals.
There is now ample scientific evidence that fish feel pain. The journal Fish and Fisheries cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence proving that fish are intelligent animals who can use tools and have impressive long-term memories and sophisticated social structures. Dr. Donald Broom, scientific advisor to the British government, has said, "The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically, and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and mammals." When fish are captured in nets and dragged into an environment in which they can't breathe, they suffer enormously as they slowly suffocate.
Please let us know that you will cancel the fish toss and choose to hold a fundraiser that does not harm animals. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Chris Holbein
Associate Director