Whitefish Sea Kitten plan won't stay afloat

Animal group proposes unique name change

If the Whitefish School District took an animal rights group's recent request seriously, its students would become the Bulldogs of Sea Kitten High.

But that won't happen, Superintendent Jerry House said - and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals didn't expect it to.

"It's a tongue-in-cheek request," said Pulin Modi, who organizes a youth-oriented street team for PETA. "We don't think there's really any harm in spreading any message of compassion" for animals.

PETA faxed a letter to Whitefish High School Principal Kent Paulson on Wednesday, asking him to change the school's name to Sea Kitten High School. A high school in Spearfish, S.D., also received the letter.

The request is part of PETA's Save the Sea Kittens campaign, which aims to spread the message that fish feel pain like other animals do.

"We're hoping that by calling fish 'sea kittens,' compassionate people who would never hurt a dog or a cat will realize that fish feel pain and fear, just like furry and winged animals do," Assistant Director Dan Shannon wrote in the letter.

"Most parents would never dream of spending a family weekend torturing kittens, but hooking fish through their mouths and pulling them through the water is just as painful as hooking a cat's mouth and dragging him or her behind a car," the letter continued.

"We're hoping that this name change will encourage people young and old to start treating these gentle 'kittens of the sea' with respect - and show them the kindness that they deserve."

Paulson was unavailable for comment, but House said changing the school's name was out of the question.

"It isn't going to happen," he said. "There is pride in the town, pride in the school. … It's totally absurd.

"How much time does one want to give to such a farce?" he added. "If you want to make awareness of something, make awareness of it for real."

On its Web site, PETA advocates ending commercial and recreational fishing - or 'sea kitten hunting" - and proposes calling fish offspring "baby sea kitties' instead of caviar.

"We're fairly confident that if people went to the grocery store and saw an item that said 'sea kitten' on it instead of 'fish,' they'd be less likely to buy it," Modi said.

In Whitefish, of course, changing the high school's name would still leave the middle school, the ski resort and the town itself.

But the idea isn't to get schools or towns to actually change their names, Modi said.

Instead, the suggestion is intended to raise awareness that fish can suffer.

PETA is targeting students in this campaign, Modi said, because young people tend to be more receptive about taking action against animal cruelty and are "in general more open-minded."

"If kids especially really knew what went into those fish sticks - those sick and tortured sea kittens - they'd probably lose their lunch over that," he said.

On the Web:

www.peta.org/sea_kittens/index.asp

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com