Sea Kittens!
PETA is in the process of renaming fish "sea kittens."
Yup, you read that right. Sea kittens.
Apparently, they're convinced that all it takes for us to stop
maltreating fish is an image rehaul. Hence the name change.
On their sea kitten website they have sea kitten stories and a
design your own sea kitten game.
I used it to create this trout that I named Milly.
The oddest part is how damn anthropomorphic they've made the fish.
The stories about the trout's scholastic achievements, the design tool
that lets you put lipstick on the fish, they all reinforce the ideas that fish, sea kittens,
whatever you call them, are almost human. But they're not. They are fish.
It seems crazy to think an animal rights organization hopes to stop
animal exploitation by overlooking the fact that animals are distinct in
their own right. Fish aren't kittens. They're fish. That's what makes them special.
And they don't wear tiaras or lipstick.
I get that what PETA wants is for people to stop thinking that fish don't feel pain.
But I'm not sure sticking tiaras on their heads and renaming them kittens is the best
way to do that.