Dear Editor,

As a veterinarian and former American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) member, I’m disgusted to learn that the AVMA—an organization which should be dedicated to helping animals and preventing their suffering—plans to have veterinarians toss around dead fish on stage at its upcoming convention in Seattle.

This disrespectful stunt reveals the AVMA’s true colors: It is no friend to animals, and apparently, it is so behind-the-times that it has ignored extensive scientific evidence showing that fish are intelligent, complex animals who feel pain in ways similar to mammals like cats and dogs.

The fish they are using to get cheap laughs were living, thinking, feeling animals who were likely yanked from the ocean by painful hooks in their mouths, hauled up in giant nets and crushed under the weight of their comrades, or raised in putrid fish farms where they spent their lives bumping into each other before being left to slowly suffocate to death.

Using dead fish as stage props is as inappropriate and cruel as tossing around dead hamsters or kittens. All animals deserve compassion and respect—whether they live above water or below it.

Dr. Joan Poster, VMD, PhD, CVA
Westport, CT