Fellow travellers, as you well know I care deeply about the welfare of animals - or as I call them,
non-human people. That's why I have been both saddened and ultimately heartened by this story about a tropical fish swallowed whole by an appalling
Brit called Chris Caswell. Not only was the poor gilled being treated barbarically by the hoon, but the journalist who reported the story couldn't even decide on its classification.
I mean, the article linked above refers to it as alternatively a guppy and a goldfish. But these are clearly
distinct varieties of fish! Their confusion in print constitutes a clear case of speciesism, and is therefore a further violation of the sadly deceased's identity. This is distressing, though hardly surprising. The Fourth Estate has
a long way to go when it comes to treatment of women and minorities, let alone aquatic fauna!
One speciesist reactionary - at whose frightful blog I learned
about the incident - thinks that taking the fish-torturer and killer to court is "a great waste of money".
On the contrary it is
money well spent. Frankly, it's about time that we non-animal creatures started treating our brethren (and sistren) across the genetic divide as equals, not inferiors.
So, paying experts to ascertain how much a fish suffers when swallowed by a human is an excellent start. And I hope and expect that soon experts will be paid (and paid well!) to make similar judgements about the pain a fish goes through when caught on a hook, impaled by a speargun, or slowly suffocated in a net. Then, and only then, will we know that the
scales of justice are truly starting to turn - and turn for good!
