PETA Wants To Rename Fish "Sea Kittens"


PETA wants to rename fish "sea kittens"
7:43 PM, January 12, 2009


Pity the humble goldfish (and his cousins the salmon, trout and tuna). They're suffering, according to PETA, from a serious image problem. And PETA is aiming to fix that through a new campaign -- one that, they hope, will cause people to think of undersea creatures as they think of their beloved mammalian pets. From the campaign's website:

People don't seem to like fish. They're slithery and slimy, and they have eyes on either side of their pointy little heads -- which is weird, to say the least. Plus, the small ones nibble at your feet when you're swimming, and the big ones -- well, the big ones will bite your face off if Jaws is anything to go by.

Of course, if you look at it another way, what all this really means is that fish need to fire their PR guy -- stat.

The campaign's aim? To rename fish "sea kittens." In an interview with NPR's Anne Hillman, PETA campaign coordinator Ashley Byrne explains:

"Fish not only have the same ability to feel pain as a dog or a cat, but they also communicate with one another," she says. "They have complex social interactions; they form bonds; they express affection by gently rubbing against one another...

"Most parents would never dream of spending a weekend torturing kittens for fun with their families, but hooking a sea kitten through the mouth and dragging her through the water is the same as hooking a kitten through the mouth and dragging her behind your car," Byrne says.

The Sea Kitten campaign launched in North Carolina, but PETA plans to expand it across the nation, according to NPR. And they've already asked South Dakota's Spearfish High School to change its name to "Sea Kitten High School."


See the PETA "Sea Kittens" site

Mr Damnation told me about this when he got in from work this morning and I'm afraid to say that my response was "sea kitten and chips for tea then?"

I mean how bloody far do you go?

Somehow I actually see the amount of people going fishing to increase at the concept of "sea kittens". Nothing like catching and mounting a 50 pound sea kitten on your wall.

^Gees what'a pic!

Well we've always had catfish, but that name doesn't seem to have mattered. They've still ended up in the batter!

Anyone ever have any Crappie? Now there'sa name!

I swear, PETA makes things *more* difficult for vegetarians. I don't want to be judged by the actions of the nutcases who came up with "sea kittens."

Changing hearts and minds, these folks, huh?

Is PETA trying to force the world to be vegetarian/vegan?
Fish are fish. That's all there is to it.

I read about this a while ago and see it as nothing more than failed propaganda. Eating cats will never be synonymous with eating fish in the eyes of the majority, that's all there's to it.

I LOLed pretty hard, but at the end of the day I will continue eating fish which are both delicious and healthy.

PETA just keeps making themselves look more and more insane.

This is just another classic example of PETA craziness... but on the bright side at least this campaign isn't laden with objectifying images of half-naked women like most of their other campaigns are. That still doesn't make it any less crazy though...


PETA just pisses me off. I'm a vegan, and am all for animal rights, and am sick of being associated with PETA because of that. Not only are they insane, but the way they use their budget is just appalling. They start crazy campaigns like this one, pretty much pouring money down the drain. If, for example, Farm Sanctuary or Sea Shepard, or even low-cost spay/neuter clinics had half the budget that PETA does, then so much more actual work could get done... and it wouldn't be filled with the sexism and stupidity that PETA is so well known for.

So, the land kittens that eat sea kittens are cannibals???!!!

ya, I am a vegetarian. Calling fish sea kittens is not going to work, but what if it does and people start eating kittens too lol.

I like kitties cos they're so delicious...
Gone go kitties.
I can eat them every day
And my mom says that's okay


here's our
jingle for goldkitties
those baked and not fried goldkitties
the wholesome snack that smiles back until you bite their heads off
did you know they're made with real cheese
even tho they look like kitties
the snack that smiles back
GOLDKITTIES!

I just thought about this thread randomly, and had to then log on right now.

So, if PETA were to achieve this global phenomenon of renaming an entire species of animal: what would we call the catfish then?

Cat Sea Kitten?

Wouldn't that be a bit redundant?

What would we call sharks? Hammerhead Kitten, Great White Sea Kitten.

And doesn't "kitten" refer to the age of the cat, so wouldn't young fish be considered kittens and older fish "cats". So therefore a Catfish would be a Cat-sea-Cat?