<blockquote class=quoteheader>Fin the Fish wrote (
see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>Catch and release banned because the fish's ego is affected? I'm fairly sure I'm right when I say animal rights campaigners have less mental capacity combined than the animals for which they fight.</blockquote>
So what does that say about the people who end up with their activities, interests and freedoms restricted because of the campaigners?
Many of the AR organisations in the UK arecompanies with "charitable arms", they are actually pretty slick PR organisations, quick to pick on any scientific literature and selectively quote from it to support their primary aims of maintaining the flow of donations and other funding streams. They say the right things to target those people looking for a cause (there are many, many emotionally damaged people out there looking to right some wrongs by proxy), and their websites are careful to say nothing about their accounts or how much the directors remove as "expenses". Nor do they mention some of their less salubrious links, or some of their real crackpot aims. All very nicey nicey "stop animal abuse", easy for people to sympathise with as long as they don't read exactly what definition of "animal abuse" is being used. In a recent "celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", presented by Chris Tarrant (an angler),contestant Nick Hancock (an angler) named as his"charity" just such an organisation, which really left me baffled. If anyone actually knows either of them, feel free to ask what the hell they were up to.
Tooffset theinsidious creepof negative PR from groups like this, various Swan Rescue groups etc. etc., anglingresponds withKeith Arthur talking the sort of stuff that sounds like it was made up on the way home from a heavy session at the pub, the AT printing headlines like "Otters On The Rampage!", and a news story from last yearabout three pillocks on "long term sick" who had signs printed for the public saying "bugger off and leave me alone", and so on.
If there's a big push from the umbrella organisations for these groups to target angling we really could be in trouble. Typically they would start by targeting local authorities which they feel are weak, looking to fragment any resistance.