Dog lovers vs the French

I'll echo the warning.

Unfortunately, even snopes can't discredit it and has to give the story some credence, even if there is some doubt about the worst fo the pics.......

Absolutely disgusting

Yeah, it's reported by the Sun, so the credibility is suspect, but check out snopes.   There was an article from Reunion re: prosecuting a fisherman for the same practices.......

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

Claim:   Fisherman on Réunion Island employ live dogs as bait for shark-fishing.

Status:   Undetermined.

Example:   [Hepburn, 2005]

Origins:   The claim that live dogs (and cats) were being used as bait by shark fisherman on Réunion Island (a French-controlled territory just off the coast of Southern Africa in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar) started hitting the English-language press in August 2005 and picked up steam in early October 2005, when it was reported by publications such as the UK's Sun (an excerpt from which is quoted at the head of this page), complete with a heart-rending picture of a purported "bait dog" with a large hook through its muzzle. Animal rights groups such as the RSPCA have taken up the cause of putting a stop to the horrible practice.

Many observers remain skeptical of such claims, however, positing theories that range from the media and animal rights groups having been taken in by a rumor and a manufactured or staged photo, to a deliberate disinformation campaign being waged by activists who seek to end the slaughter of sharks for their fins and cartilage by Indian Ocean fisherman. Arguments for and against the reality of this practice include:

• Doubters maintain that waste parts from other animals could be obtained more cheaply, easily, and humanely and would serve far better as shark bait. Critics contend that such meat by-products are hard to come by on Réunion, but the island is home to a population of 150,000 unwanted stray dogs and cats easily caught and used for bait by fisherman (a point advanced in this French-language news report).

• Doubters maintain that the widely-displayed image reproduced above (of the dog with a fishing hook placed through its snout) has obviously been digitally manufactured or staged because no evidence of blood, swelling, or redness is visible. Critics contend that such a piercing would not necessarily produce any of those visible symptoms. (Still others have hypothesized that the picture is merely an image of a dog that accidentally entangled itself in a large fishing hook, and it has been used as illustrative evidence for a completely unrelated story.)

• Doubters maintain that the posited fishing method is not practical; that live dogs and cats would not attract sharks nearly as well as dismembered ones, and that their thrashings would quickly end as they drowned in the water. Critics contend that the blood produced by the animals' piercings, their initial struggles to escape, and the movement as they are dragged through the water from boats are sufficient to attract sharks, while doubters counter by claiming that the animals' struggles would quickly tear themselves free of the hooks, and that most sharks would simply take bites out of the live "bait" without going anywhere near the hooks.

Given that a Réunion newspaper article reported the recent prosecution of an amateur fisherman on that island over animal cruelty charges associated with the described activity, we'd have to estimate that there probably is some truth to shark-fishing claim, although the practice may not be as widespread or horrific as implied by recent news stories — the article notes that it is largely the province of amateur fisherman who place their canine bait on boards attached to buoys rather than "dragging them behind boats," and that they generally pick up dead strays rather than catching and impaling live animals. Likewise, some of images displayed in news stories may possibly have been concocted or misidentified by those seeking to publicize and put an end to the practice.

Last updated:   3 October 2005

maybe it is true maybe it isn't... but to me your post reads to me like: bla bla bla, lets hate the french people... No I am not french but my mom is... Your statement is dumb and a poor generalization

Jorge

Whoa. To be fair to Spencer, I think he was reacting in an emotional way to something that strikes all of us as pretty awful. It may be unfair, yes, to say it's a reason to dislike the French, but come on, let's not start calling each other names.

FWIW, France is the only country I know of where you can take your pooch with you to a fancy restaurant. Just sayin.

Touche'.