Much to the dismay of most readers of this group, I actually support
PETA.... about half of the time, although,they tend to take things a bit too
far.  This is one issue on which I disagree with them, though.  They have
done alot for animals, and I certainly don't support pit bull fighting, cock
fighting, bull fighting, or hunting simply for the trophy.  If you are
careful about catching fish, you can release them unharmed into the water,
and catch them another day.  I've actually gotten a hook lodged in the
gullet of a fish before, released him, and caught him again on the very next
cast, with my hook still in him!  Granted, though, it was a rock bass.  If
people are responsible and careful while fishing, as you all know, you can
have a very high success rate among releasing fish unharmed back into the
water.  I, personally, have not killed a fish in over 5 years, now.  Some
fisherman make us all look bad.  How many times have you been fishing from
the river bank and found a row of dead, rotting carp or gar pike lying on
the bank?  It happens quite frequently around here.  Alot of people don't
like carp, but they do serve a purpose.  They do help keep the water a bit
cleaner, and they are also living animals with the same right to life as we
have.  There can be a harmonious existence between the species, and we
should strive for that.
For those interested in seeing PETA's website that attacks fishermen, go to
http://www.nofishing.org
Another reason cited for outlawing fishing is that people leave their used
line, hooks, sinkers, packages, beer cans, cigarette butts, and other
garbage all over the site they're fishing.  I'm sure that nobody in this
newsgroup would do anything like that, but go out one day without your gear.
Clean up one fishing spot every other month or so.  It may not last very
long, but hopefully, somebody will see you doing it, and gain a little
respect for nature.  Put up a sign asking people to please help keep this
area clean.  Whenever I go out, I always try to pick up at least a little
bit.  It's always the extreme few that ruin it for the rest of us, and it's
up to the opposite extreme to balance it out and make a difference.  If
you're not part of the problem, you can choose to be part of the solution.
    As far as hunting goes, a walk through the woods has more than once
uncovered a deer carcass lying on the ground with its head missing.  I have
never been so enraged in all my life.  The truth is, that due to some
irresponsible idiots, there is a need for PETA.  The law of nature is that
whenever anything eats, something else dies, but people who hunt simply for
the sake of killing something make the rest of us look bad.  On the other
side of the coin, those who would like to crucify us who hunt who have no
problem going through the drive through at McDonald's piss me off even more!
My point is that at least the animal I killed and ate had a decent life up
until the point.  at which its path crossed mine.  It wasn't sitting in a
cage being pumped full of hormones so it would produce more meat.  Its
throat wasn't cut by a machine, while it was carried on a conveyor belt,
choking on its own blood until it bled to death.  My method was much more
humane.  Take veal for example.  I haven't eaten veal in over 15 years now.
The way veal first came about was that dairy farmers needed to keep their
cows lactating, and the best way to do that was to keep them pregnant.  They
had a bull that would get to make his rounds with his harem, and they would
keep them on a cycle.  When the calf was born, they'd slaughter it, and get
the cow pregnant again.  That, I have no problem with.  But when you keep
the calf alive, and stick it in a box, unable to stand, or walk (so the meat
doesn't get tough), and force-feed it for its entire short life, I find that
inhumane.  On principle, I refuse to eat veal.  Don't get me wrong, it
tastes great, but I can't be a party to that.  I'll take Guinness Broiled
Rabbit any day over a Big Mac!