Live dogs used as shark bait !

[_TJ_]

(I thought this had to be satire but it's actually real)

By IAN HEPBURN

STRAY dogs are being skewered on hooks and dragged behind boats as live shark bait, The Sun can shockingly reveal.

The cruel practice takes place on French-controlled Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, where Prince William spent two holidays.

A six-month-old labrador pup was recently found ALIVE with a huge double hook through its snout - like the dog above - and another through a leg.

(edit: Horrific imagery in the link below)

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C2-2005450117%2C00.html

[ArkDem]

1. Sounds like you could really get sore wrists form casting.

[soleft]

2. If there are photos in that link you may want to post a warning

Someone posted this story last week and did so.

[_TJ_]

5. good call n/t

[acmejack]

3. This is absolutely reprehensible!

People that would do something like this are beneath contempt.

I can't/won't read the article...

[mike_c]

4. I'm convinced this story is fake-- see comments here....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4954808

This story doesn't pass the smell test. See my comments about the feasibility of doing this. At the very least, this is a Murdoch embellishment of some completely different story.

[Sub Atomic]

10. This story is not fake.

I posted it before.

This thread has pictures, video, etc.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4929035

The pictures are not inline, you have to click the top link to get to them.

The second link in my original post goes to a petition to try to stop these actions. The second link is pic free.

[NYCGirl]

14. See Snopes on this:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/sharkbait.asp

[mike_c]

19. read my comments, and see the picture that accompanies the story....

You cannot hook through the upper mandible without surgery-- drills-- and that dog shows NO SIGN of surgical truama. The pic likewise does not show the expected bulge if the hook was passed only through the soft tissue and in front of the teeth, and no swelling or trauma from the wound. Furthermore, you cannot tow a living dog by the soft tissues of the lips-- they will simply tear. If the hooks WERE passed through the upper mandible, the dog would drown within minutes as it was towed behind the boat. If not towed, it would simply become exhausted and drown. But the main evidence is the pic itself-- it MUST be faked. It's made to look like a fish on a hook, but you cannot do that to a mammal without surgery and in the case of that pic, a lengthy recovery to erase the surgical trauma. No way that pic is real.

on edit-- that someone would fake such a pic is itself reprehensible, IMO.

double edit-- look at the pic again-- the back of the hook clearly passes in front of the teeth, so it is only through the soft tissue, but does not distend the lips. No evidence of associated trauma. Again, I'm convinced this pic is faked.

[maine_raptor]

6. Here Barney, Here Boy, Wanna go for a boat ride?

:sarcasm:

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Sick bastards

But really, what's the difference between a dog and a worm, when you get right down to it?

And don't tell me "Dogs have a soul."

Logically, the two practices are roughly equivalent. It is our cultural feeling for dogs that makes us recoil. Now, that doesn't mean that the cultural feeling is WRONG. I still think these mutherfuckers should be dragged about as sharkbait themselves, but it is an interesting case for the way our cultural feelings affect our thinking.

[ArkDem]

17. I can tell you this from experience. Dogs are much better pets

than worms. Also, worms are better bait than dogs.

[CardInAustin]

20. Well...

Dogs have a complex brain that is capable of some level of emotional response. A worm barely has anything that can even be referred to as a brain.

Now, I don't eat either of them....but surely the creature's ability to feel and respond to pain, danger, or its own demise plays some role in this sort of thing.

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. You blinded me with science

;-)

[NYCGirl]

8. Here's Snopes' take on the story:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/sharkbait.asp

[Jacobin]

9. keep in mind that humans in many parts of the world

eat dogs and cats, while many in the west consider them like children.

I guess strays there have a choice between being barbqued and trolled as shark bait.

As a human who lives in a country that makes dogs and cats part of the family, it freaks me out to hear about this.

[DS1]

11. I'm not buying it anymore

There's no way that hook would support the weight of a dog being dragged through the water without it tearing right through the muzzle flaps - or whatever they're called.

BS.

[radwriter0555]

16. And as snopes says, there is no swelling, no blood, etc...

This has always sounded very fishy to me, pardon the pun.

[mtnsnake]

12. I feel just as bad that so many sharks are being needlessly hunted

& killed. I'm a freshwater "catch and release" fisherman, and I'd love nothing more than to see some of these cruel animal killers be dragged slowly through shark infested waters behind a boat themselves.

[rolleitreks]

13. Doubt it.

What's the point? The dog would be drowned in minutes. And as the previous poster noted, that rig wouldn't hold.

Also while a shark would no doubt attack a dog in the right circumstances, fish and aquatic mammals are their familiar food. Not going to "match the hatch" with a dog . . .

[Jon8503]

15. Got this reply back from PETA:

Thank you for contacting us about the dogs and cats reportedly being
used as fishing bait on La Réunion Island. We share your concern about
this horrendous cruelty.

PETA is looking into these allegations and will be contacting the local
Préfet (governing entity) and pushing for vigorous prosecutions of
those who participate in this cruel activity. Please also know that the
Brigitte Bardot Foundation, headquartered in Paris, is spearheading a
campaign against this reported atrocity. You can visit its Web site at
http://www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr/site/homepage.php?ok=2&Id=2.

You may also wish to contact the World Society for the Protection of
Animals (WSPA). WSPA helps animals worldwide and may have additional
information about efforts to help these dogs and cats:

WSPA USA
34 Deloss St.
Framingham, MA 01702
508-879-8350
[e-mail]
http://www.wspa-usa.org

We hope this information is helpful. Thanks again for writing and for
all that you do to help animals!

Sincerely,


The PETA Staff
http://www.PETA.org

[Silverhair]

18. I don't believe it.

The photo doesn't look right. The dog does not look damaged or distressed, and the practice makes no sense. It would be a poor fishing technique.

I know that people can be horribly cruel to animals, so I could believe it if it made sense to use a live dog for bait. I would still hate it.

Regarding them eating dogs - well, we eat cattle.

[bmbmd]

21. When :I was a kid

I came across an old river rat on the Brazos River in Texas. He had a huge stringer of yellow catfish-well over a hundred pounds in all. When I asked him the secret to his success, he said "Ya gotta have the right bait" and reeled in his line to display a tiny, drowned newborn kitten impaled on a huge treble hook.

[ArkDem]

22. Where would you go to get a large supply of tiny, drowned

newborn kittens?

[bmbmd]

23. I expect they were

home grown.