PETA posted a tweet that made a lot of people scratch their heads.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has always had its fair share of opponents, as its aggressive approach to combatting the mistreatment of animals has always seemingly had an abrasive effect.
Although most people agree with the sentiment of looking out for animals' best interest, PETA has a well-known reputation for taking it a step further, condemning many law-abiding citizens for participating in legal outdoor rec activities.
Those working in the livestock industry regularly find themselves in a bloody-knuckle battle with the animal rights organization, as do many big-game hunters. Each side uses polar-opposite logic to argue its point, leaving people with no conclusion, but rather a never-ending fight.
Now, however, PETA is taking shots at fishermen, too. Last week it posted a tweet that essentially said no one should ever fish.
"Fish are sentient individuals who feel pain," PETA said in the tweet. "Invading an animal's natural habitat, harassing them, and eating them for fun is so cruel. Don't go fishing this summer, or EVER."
Fish are sentient individuals who feel pain.
Invading an animal's natural habitat, harassing them, killing them, and eating them for fun is so cruel. Don't go fishing this summer, or EVER.#FirstCatch #GetYourFishOn #FishFeelPain pic.twitter.com/dCpicuMHRH
— PETA (@peta) June 7, 2019
The video within the tweet expands on PETA's captioned stance.
"People often wonder...do fish feel pain?" the video asks. "Yes, they do. There is as much evidence that fish feel pain and suffer as there is for birds and mammals. Fish do have the capacity for pain perception and suffering. Pain receptors in fish are strikingly similar to those of mammals. So when fish are hooked, they not only endure physical pain but also terror. When they're yanked out of the water, they begin to suffocate. Their gills often collapse and their swim bladders can rupture."
Everyone's entitled to an opinion. PETA members are allowed to think and say whatever they want, but they should be prepared to catch some warranted backlash.
"Anglers often try to retrieve hooks by shoving their fingers or even a pair of pliers down a fish's throat," it says. "Doing this doesn't just rip out the hook, but also part of the fish's throat and organs. Can you imagine have a hook pierce your face before suffocating to death? No one deserves this. Try vegan!"
The fallacy with the veganism argument isn't in what an animal feels. No one is disputing the pain an animal experiences before it dies.
So, there's one thing meateaters can and should acknowledge.
Yet, somehow PETA and its followers refuse to acknowledge our anatomical ability to eat meat. Humans are omnivores; it's more natural for us to eat meat than for us to be vegan.
At the end of the day, death isn't pretty. It's death. But no one's cornering a tiger or a lion with an animal cruelty picket sign. No one's telling a black bear to only eat those berries even though it instinctively knows it needs to add protein to its diet.
How many of the animal rights people who retweeted or liked this post go home and feed their dogs food made with farm-raised chickens?
This conversation is an exhausted one. Let it go, people.
NEXT: A HUNTER'S OPEN LETTER TO ANTI-HUNTING ACTIVISTS
