Hundreds of years ago, the forefathers of modern medicine performed live dissections on monkeys and other animals, peeling away layers of skin and muscle to observe the operating organs deep inside. The screams and cries of the animals were thought to be just reflexes.
Today, it's common sense that all mammals feel and experience pain, but it has also been long believed that fish and other forms of animal life don't. Fishing isn't cruel, sportsmen have argued, because the fish don't have the brain power to really experience pain.
New research demolishes that flawed belief. Fish do feel and experience pain. They may not be as smart as primates, but they're not so stupid that they can't feel a hook ripping their digestive organs out through their mouths.
Naturally, sportsmen are screaming bloody murder at this. Or, actually, they're screaming that fishing is not bloody murder. It's just an innocent sport, something you do with the family. Something you do to bond with nature.
Hunters cite the exact same arguments. "Deer don't feel any pain," they insist. Although, in truth, it takes a rather imaginative distortion of reality to insist that a mammal running through the woods, leaving a trail of fresh blood two miles long, somehow didn't feel anything.
In time, as additional research like this emerges, more people will begin to ask the important question: "Why is maiming animals for entertainment still legal in a civilized society?"
Analysis: Fish feel pain. Fishermen disagree. Expect to see more people questioning the "sports" of fishing and hunting as more research like this emerges.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.TV, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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Monday, October 27, 2003
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