Aquarium Shouldn't Serve Fish, PETA Says wrote:
An animal rights group wants the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to gut its cafeteria menu of fish and seafood, arguing that "serving fish at an aquarium is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show."
Like Lilo in the animated "Lilo and Stitch," who refused to make a tuna sandwich for her friend, Pudge, a fish, because it would be "an abomination," the head of the Fish Empathy Project for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said serving fish at an aquarium just isn't right. "An institution with a mission that includes teaching people to respect and appreciate marine animals certainly shouldn't serve fish in its cafeteria," Karin Robertson wrote last week in a letter to Jerry Schabel, the aquarium's chairman and chief executive.
Robertson, who runs a website called fishinghurts.com, said recent studies have showed that fish are "intelligent, sensitive and interesting animals."
"Fish are far more intelligent than previously thought, and in some respects their cognitive abilities surpass those of dogs and some nonhuman primates," she wrote to Schabel. "The treatment of both commercially caught fish and fish from fish farms would warrant cruelty-to-animals charges in your state if animals we are more familiar with, like dogs and cats, were treated as badly."
[...]
Aquarium officials say they won't ban from their kitchens sustainable seafood, such as tilapia, farmed clams and wild-caught Alaskan salmon, that can be replenished through such means as fish farms.
[...]
"Like PETA, we are committed to animals and their conservation, and we appreciate that commitment," Schabel said in a statement Monday. She said some people coming to the aquarium "may want to eat seafood. Rather than eat seafood from unsustainable sources, we stand committed to offering them the alternative of eating only sustainable or environmentally friendly seafood."
[...]
Despite the aquarium's denying her request, Robertson said she will send letters to other aquariums around the country to point out what she calls the hypocrisy of their menus.
"They should be serving exclusively vegetarian food, not just for the health of their patrons but for the animals they contend to be supporting," she said Monday. "They don't sell elephant burgers at the zoo, and they shouldn't be selling fish at aquariums."
Like Lilo in the animated "Lilo and Stitch," who refused to make a tuna sandwich for her friend, Pudge, a fish, because it would be "an abomination," the head of the Fish Empathy Project for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said serving fish at an aquarium just isn't right. "An institution with a mission that includes teaching people to respect and appreciate marine animals certainly shouldn't serve fish in its cafeteria," Karin Robertson wrote last week in a letter to Jerry Schabel, the aquarium's chairman and chief executive.
Robertson, who runs a website called fishinghurts.com, said recent studies have showed that fish are "intelligent, sensitive and interesting animals."
"Fish are far more intelligent than previously thought, and in some respects their cognitive abilities surpass those of dogs and some nonhuman primates," she wrote to Schabel. "The treatment of both commercially caught fish and fish from fish farms would warrant cruelty-to-animals charges in your state if animals we are more familiar with, like dogs and cats, were treated as badly."
[...]
Aquarium officials say they won't ban from their kitchens sustainable seafood, such as tilapia, farmed clams and wild-caught Alaskan salmon, that can be replenished through such means as fish farms.
[...]
"Like PETA, we are committed to animals and their conservation, and we appreciate that commitment," Schabel said in a statement Monday. She said some people coming to the aquarium "may want to eat seafood. Rather than eat seafood from unsustainable sources, we stand committed to offering them the alternative of eating only sustainable or environmentally friendly seafood."
[...]
Despite the aquarium's denying her request, Robertson said she will send letters to other aquariums around the country to point out what she calls the hypocrisy of their menus.
"They should be serving exclusively vegetarian food, not just for the health of their patrons but for the animals they contend to be supporting," she said Monday. "They don't sell elephant burgers at the zoo, and they shouldn't be selling fish at aquariums."
Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to say "The don't sell animal products at the zoo and they shouldn't be selling fish at aquariums"? Oh, but that would be wrong since they do sell burgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc at the zoo. For that matter, most every zoo has a children's section that displays cows, chickens, pigs, etc.
I've heard of studies that "show" that marigolds have feelings but that doesn't mean I buy into them. There's a reason the bulk of the scientific community doesn't believe that marigolds have feelings nor that salmon are smarter than dogs. I'm going to guess that the amazing "respects" that "their cognitive abilities surpass those of dogs" is that they can identify a water beetle from a round bit of floating bark faster than a terrier can or something equally unimpressive.
And WTF is with the Lilo & Stitch reference? Hell, I've got a kid and never seen that thing. At least try to work in a reference to Finding Nemo or something.
Edited, Tue Jun 28 13:52:04 2005 by Jophiel
