LET'S PUT A STOP TO DEEP SEA ANGLERS USING DOGS AND KITTENS AS BAIT

In 2005 a horrific story broke worldwide that grotesquely exposed a heinous act that was occurring on Reunion Island, a French-controlled island located just east of Madagascar off the coast of Africa. Many people discredited the stories they were reading because how could those words being shared possible be true? Dogs, cats, kittens and puppies were being used on an on-going basis as shark bait; live shark bait. To make matters even worse, many of these beautiful creatures were once someones pet that had been taken from them after being thought of as a stray. Stray animals are thought of as vermin, according to local officials, and as Reha Hutin, President of the Thirty Million Friends Foundation states, “…no one holds any value in the life of a stray animal.”

In a 2005 article written by Maryann Mott for National Geographic News, it was reported that

“…Reha Hutin, President of The Thirty Million Friends Foundation, sent a film crew to Reunion this summer to obtain proof that live animals were being used as shark bait. The goal was to expose the practice on the animal rights group’s weekly television show…A videotape and photographs show the dogs with multiple hooks sunk deep into their paws and snouts.” An act so unimaginably barbaric that many people who learned about this act found very difficult to believe. Once the dogs and cats are captured they are punctured with the fishing hooks and left to bleed for one day before being tossed into the ocean overnight in an inflatable tube, as to allow the fishermen easy access the following day to the shark they had hoped to catch after the innocent animal was left injured and frightened overnight, waiting to become the next meal for a creature vastly larger than itself.

It was not until 2007 that more reports began to emerge surrounding the cases of dogs being used as shark bait and to this day the stories continue to circulate throughout different news agencies online and throughout the animal rights communities. There are still many questions as to whether or not this is occurring, but according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in the United Kingdom and the Thirty Million Friends Foundation, it is happening on a weekly basis. These organizations are so determined to catch the individuals responsible that they are offering a $1,000 reward to any Reunion Island police officer who arrests any fisherman caught using a live dog or cat as shark bait.

Undoubtedly, there are going to be growing questions and concerns about whether or not this can possibly be happening. As seen in the photograph above, there is visual evidence of these atrocities being carried out, it is up to anyone who chooses to see what is happening whether or not they wish to believe it using their own judgments. One may ask, “What is going to be done about this practice?” and the answer won’t be easy as Maryann Mott states in her article, “The foundation plans to finance a sterilization program on the island to reduce the stray overpopulation.”

Is this something that can be overcome? With much hope and courage it will be, but it will take time and it will take willing individuals to put themselves on the line to bring about change to a region that does not see or understand the value in what they are doing. Sadly, this is a reality that most animal advocates face, and with great determination, perhaps this can be one of those cases that will eventually meet its happy ending and hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats can be saved from the cruelties that their kin had once faced.

We must put an end to this horrific and grotesque act!  This is NOT humane... this is the equivalent of giving birth to a child, then putting them on a hook and tossing them overboard....