Avid reader Don S. alerts us to what we *hope* can be seen as an amusing story: PETA would like Spearfish, S.D.’s high school to change its name. Oh, but this has nothing to do with the school’s nickname. It has everything to do with the word “spearfish.” They would like that changed to “Sea Kittens.” Really.

The new name would “reflect the gentle nature of its current marine namesake,” the organization said in a letter to Steve Morford, Spearfish High School principal.

PETA said the letter is part of a new Sea Kitten campaign aimed at children.

If children were taught to refer to fish as “sea kittens,” reflecting that fish, like cats and dogs, are “individuals” that “do have friendships,” fewer fish might be killed for food or sport, said Pulin Modi, a PETA spokesman.

“We want people to realize that more fish are killed each year than all animals combined,” he said. “They don’t have the sympathy of more popular animals like cats and dogs.”

Morford said he did not want to share his feelings about PETA. “Obviously, it’s nothing we’re taking seriously,” he said.

Yes, we imagine whatever goodwill was earned with the creatures of the sea would be repaid tenfold by understanding and cooperative opponents of the “Sea Kitten” high school sports teams. Because there sure aren’t any crude directions one could go with that.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 1:09 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.