Well, we all have to draw the line somewhere, and fish are on the other side of the line, with bugs and trees. Heck, you can buy bug spray at the store, but I don't hear anybody crying about how unfair it is to kill bugs.
Quote:
Originally posted by Nuhtty
Have you ever noticed that our warm blooded pets...dogs, cats, horses, etc...have more rights in the eyes of the law than, say fish and reptiles?
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MAMMALS:
Mammals have more rights than other animals, probably because they have the most in common with us. Similarities to humans like feeding and caring for their young are endearing. Also, they are common place, and many people have mammals as pets; the personal relationships we build with one animal can easily make us feel empathy with other, similar species. Plus, we can also teach some of them to crap where we want (litter box), do work for us (plow horse), serve us (seeing eye dog), and all that other stuff.
Young mammals seek the protection of their parents, just like people. Mammals scream and cry out when they are hurt, even rabbits, just like people.
Birds:
Birds are probably next in line because some of them can mimic speach, or sing really pretty, and that's endearing. There was a chicken that played the piano on TV.
Fish and Repliles:
Fish and reptiles are not used as widely as pets, and (like Jeremy said) you can't "cuddle" with a fish-you can with some reptiles, but most people don't. Snakes are often dangerous and are even used as a representation of evil by some (but let's not go down that discussion too far) and that mindset is extended to other scaled,
generally egg-laying creatures that
generally don't raise their young and
generally don't make any vocal sounds. Teaching a fish to eat out of your hand really isn't the same as having a cat curl up on your lap, or a dog bark when a stranger comes to your home.
Kids have been dragged from burning buildings by dogs more often than by fish. IMO, getting people to see how clowns defend their eggs (ie, Nemo) and how mandarin pairs can stick together like lovesick teenagers goes further that saying, "but it's not fair, just because they don't have hair".
If you REALLY give a crap:
Give a talk at your local school. Bring in a lil tank with some inverts and stuff like that, let the kids touch stuff-they'll kill some stuff, but most of it will just die in a power outage or heater malfunction, anyways. And, bring a fish or two that does something COOL, besides swimming around and looking for food. Maybe a grunting trigger. Make a movie of some stuff so they can see: jaw fish stealing each other's shells, triggers re-arranging rock work, clownfish actually defending their eggs.
But, just complaining on the board is cool, too.