THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040285
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 41 lines
Garfield the Cat danced with Gill the Fish, and everyone got along swimmingly at the first anti-fishing demonstration staged by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
About 500 schoolchildren were brought to a 7-acre lake near the Washington Monument to catch bluegill and catfish that had been placed there by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the start of National Fishing Week.
The feds were promoting fishing as a low-cost sport that teaches positive values; PETA was trying to persuade the crowd that fish feel pain and should not be caught.
The feds brought the week's costumed mascot, Garfield, to entertain the kids. Seven PETA activists, including one dressed as Gill the Fish, were uninvited guests. However, there were no confrontations.
``We had an opportunity for the two characters to meet and they kind of danced around for awhile,'' said Davey Shepherd, PETA's anti-fishing campaign coordinator.
``We deliberately kept it down to a minimum, because the initiative that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had was for children and we didn't want to appear too intimidating,'' he said.
``We seriously take exception to anything PETA says about fish having feelings,'' said Hugh Vickery, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service. ``Clearly, we're in a different point of view than the animal rights people.''
PETA will move its national headquarters to Norfolk this month, delaying the anti-fishing campaign. After the new office opens on Front Street, the campaign will gear up again, Shepherd said.
PETA has gathered information on fishing tournaments and events in several states, he said, including North Carolina and New Jersey.
``Very likely, one of those two states will be our next big event,'' he said.
Events for National Fishing Week drew more than 300 children in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, but no PETA demonstrators appeared, said Paul Whitehurst, a regional director for the Virginia BASS Federation.
KEYWORDS: ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS by CNB