PETA's New Fish Campaign in St. Petersburg Aimed at Parents: 'Don't Let Kids Become Hookers'

Provocative Protest Set for St. Petersburg

For Immediate Release:
June 13, 2012 

Contact:
Kaitlynn Kelly 202-483-7382 

St. Petersburg, Fl. -- 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 leading up to Father's Day. PETA's point? That parents who fish send their children the dangerous message that it's acceptable to torment and kill animals.                       

When:   Thursday, June 14, 12 noon

Where:  Southwest corner of Second Avenue N.E. and Beach Drive N.E., St. Petersburg

"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.