Cut PETA Up For Chum

PETA hooks the wrong fish
By Eric Heyl
TRIBUNE-REVIEW


I was in a custom auto shop yesterday, and as you might imagine, the topic of whether fish are capable of experiencing pain was broached.

I know, I know. Seems like you can't take a car in to be turbo-charged these days without having a discussion on the sensory capabilities of cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates.

"I never really thought too much about it before," said Meagan Barker, co-owner of Strict Fab Automotive Solutions on Route 51 in Jefferson Hills. "But no, I don't think a fish can actually feel a hook in its mouth."

Barker is thinking about such things with greater frequency since her exposure to the latest outlandish publicity stunt by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA is protesting the sadistic animal cruelty it believes will occur in town this weekend at the CITGO Bassmaster Classic. The radical animal rights group is using as its tool an ad on a huge billboard directly above Strict Fab.

The ad features a computer-altered picture of a dog with a fish hook through its bloody lip and poses the question," If you wouldn't do this to a dog, why do it to a fish?"

Possibly because dogs and fish aren't really comparable creatures.

You can't walk, pet or groom a fish.

Try asking a bass to fetch a stick.

Or submerging a dog -- of any breed -- under water for a prolonged period. A few initial yelps of protest are liable to be followed by uninterrupted silence.

When it comes to animal blood sport, fishing never has ranked up there with pit bull fighting. Scientists and zoologists can't even agree on whether fish are intelligent enough to be cognizant of pain.

Given those facts, it's no wonder Barker, 23, of Smock, Fayette County, was surprised to find the grotesque imagery objecting to the fishing tournament rising above the auto shop.

"I mean, when I left here Tuesday, there was an ad for Dollar Bank up there," she said.

"It probably didn't have a picture of a loan officer being impaled," I said.

"You're right," Barker said. "It didn't."

Strict Fab co-owner Matt Yanecko said he found the billboard "pretty sickening. ... I just think it's wrong, and I'd rather (the ad) not be there."

Yanecko, 23, of Dawson, Fayette County, often fishes and has hunted deer with a bow and arrow. He believes the region's large number of sportsmen might not take kindly to PETA's position.

"It's getting so you can't do anything recreational without someone objecting," he said. "There's nothing wrong with fishing. It's a sport, just like soccer, baseball or basketball."

I feel bad for the young entrepreneurs, especially Yanecko.

Strict Fab has been open for only three weeks. It could use some customers.

For the past few days, Yanecko has had to endure a growing number of motorists slowing down and even stopping in front of Strict Fab. Not to get any work done there, but to gawk at and absorb a message that the outdoorsman vehemently opposes.

Fish might not be able to feel pain, but people certainly can. For Yanecko, that has to hurt.