However, despite this reputation piranhas are helpless against the assaults of humans.

Every year, countless numbers of piranhas are unwillingly captured and kidnapped from their natural habitat so they can be exploited and commercialized for monetary gain. David M. Schleser’s Piranhas (Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.1997) states that humans are undoubtedly the major predators of adult piranhas.

It is a common misconception that fish do not feel pain. This belief has allowed many people to justify the cruelty they inflict upon piranhas (and many other fish species). However, fish can and do feel pain and recent studies have provided the scientific evidence to prove this. A study done by Joseph Garner of Purdue University (2009) reported that these animals do experience pain consciously, rather than simply reacting with a reflex. Many other studies have resulted in similar evidence.

The ability of fish to perceive pain and discomfort makes the bid for their welfare extremely important. The desecration and ill-treatment that piranhas endure as a result of the trades that harvest and profit from them is truly horrifying.

Piranhas are hunted extensively throughout their range and then sold to local food markets. Considerable numbers are intentionally caught in nets, traps and by hooks and lines. However, numerous other piranhas are accidentally caught in lines and traps set for other intended catch.

Piranhas are also harvested directly from the wild to be sent off to the exotic pet trade. This harvesting represents an unnatural loss in the populations. Piranhas are caught from their native South America and then exported to places all around the world.

Others are killed so that they can be dried and mounted, or encased in glass. These deceased piranhas are then sold as decorative ornaments and marketed towards tourists.

The piranhas’ fearsome reputation makes them susceptible to being directly persecuted by those who deem them as dangerous or nuisance. Individuals who encounter vulnerable piranhas are likely to kill them. This is especially true of piranhas who have become trapped in receding pools after the wet season.Piranhas are also fished and killed for sport. The reputation of piranhas as blood-thirsty killers often makes them the pursuit of outdoors men who want to prove their masculinity by targeting such animals.

Protecting piranhas is important for several reasons. Piranhas are absolutely paramount to the health of many eco-systems and to biodiversity as they are extremely valuable components to the ecological communities in which they live; playing several complex roles.

Piranhas are efficient predators in both lotic and lentic habitats. Piranhas largely prey upon sick, injured, dyeing, or deceased animals. By effectively removing sick or dyeing members from animal populations, piranhas help maintain the health of the aquatic eco-systems they reside in. They essentially act as a natural clean-up crew.

Aside from their predatory and scavenging roles, piranhas are also prey items for numerous other species including caimans, birds, otters, and dolphins.

There is much about piranhas that scientists still do not know. This fact could mean that piranhas may play even more integral roles in the natural world that we are simply unaware of.

Many individuals have a thought process that views human beings as the most intelligent, superior, and enlightened lifeforms on the planet. If people are to have such views of themselves then they must use such intelligence and perception to realize that the majority of treatment that piranhas (and all other animals for that matter) receive from humans is extremely unethical and deplorable.

Humans must use their privileged position to strive to live in such a manner that is not detrimental or cruel to the other species on the earth; many of which species have been here for millions of years before humans appeared. This gives non-human species every right (if not more then humans do) to live on this planet. It also gives them the right to live free of cruelty, persecution, and from infringements on their freedom.

Protecting piranhas is also important to furthering the animal rights movement.

Being a compassionate animal rights advocate means standing up for all animals, not just the visually appealing (cute and cuddly) ones such as charismatic mammals. If individuals can be taught the value in protecting and conserving an animal like a piranha (a so called ‘terrifying cold-blooded fish’), then they will certainly be able to see the value in all other animals as well!

For more information www.savethepiranhas.com

This is a guest post from piranha advocate Matt Ellenbeck. If you would like to write a guest post, contact chris (at) deeprootssanctuary.org.

Perhaps the largest marine disaster to happen in decades, and now considered the largest oil spill in the history of the United States, the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010 has led to an environmental catastrophe that continues without abatement and whose oily clutches extend from slicks on the ocean’s surface to deep swells near the ocean’s floor. Armed with mops and rags, seeming trifles compared to the magnitude of the oil’s reach, the human response to the disaster has been one of caution and vigilance. With no real solution in sight, coastal inhabitants, volunteers, even the government, can only try to redirect the slicks away from fragile coastal regions or don the tools of the domestic and use brooms and rubber gloves in an attempt to clean house. That, and wait.

While it goes without saying that the oil spill has led many consumers and legislators to question and call attention to our dependence on oil, the spill has also demonstrated to what extent our world is an ecological network, where the health and survival of one species depends on that of another; where the destruction of an environment may affect ecosystems across the planet. Carl Safina, president of the Blue Ocean Institute, has illustrated the importance of the Gulf Coast as an aviary highway and stopover for many migratory birds who depend on the food sources and breeding grounds found there. But with the toxic oil and dispersant residues permeating not only the shoreline and nesting habitats, but also killing and contaminating fish populations, the survival of bird species from as far north as the Canadian Arctic and as far south as the southern tip of South America is put in jeopardy.

We at Deep Roots Animal Sanctuary grieve for the lives, both human and non-human, lost to this terrible tragedy. While we mourn the ecological consequences of this catastrophic event and support efforts to clean-up and change energy consumption in the United States, we also recognize that habitat destruction and species endangerment is a chronic issue. That is why we at Deep Roots are dedicated to providing refuge and rehabilitation to wild birds and waterfowl. Now, more than ever, we need your help–bird species around the world need your help–to protect their livelihoods and preserve their futures.

If you would like to be a part of our efforts to rescue and protect birds and waterfowl, please visit us at deeprootssanctuary.org or contribute to our kickstarter campaign where we are raising money to build a bird rehab center.

(Sept. 23, 2008) – The Humane Society of the United States applauds U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) for introducing legislation today to combat “wildlife penning”— fenced enclosures where wild animals are ripped apart by packs of dogs in competitive animal fights. The Wildlife Penning Prohibition Act of 2008, H.R. 6988, would amend the Lacey Act to prohibit the interstate transport of animals used in wildlife penning.

In this staged animal combat, dogs with numbers painted on their sides are judged on how quickly they pursue fenced-in wildlife, usually foxes and coyotes. Scored trials in wildlife pens sometimes last for days with the dogs ripping apart and killing many of the captive animals. In a recent multi-state sting, federal and state authorities uncovered the interstate smuggling of thousands of animals to stock these enclosures.

“The grisly practice of trapping and selling animals to be used as ‘live bait’ in fenced enclosures is not only inhumane, but also could spread diseases across state lines,” said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Humane Society of the United States. “We are grateful to Congressman Holt for introducing this important animal protection bill that protects native wildlife from being used in gruesome animal fights.”

“The practice of fox penning is inhumane and unsportsmanlike,” said Rep. Holt. “The foxes and coyotes captured for these purposes are mistreated from the moment they are trapped to the moment they are torn apart by dogs in an escape-proof enclosure. I have introduced H.R. 6988 to stop this practice by outlawing the transport of animals for the purposes of fox penning.”

The appalling practice of wildlife penning begins when wildlife are caught in the steel jaws of a leghold trap and suffer excruciating pain. The wild animals are removed from the traps and packed into a cage with other injured animals. A recent investigation revealed that coyotes and foxes are shipped hundreds of miles in cramped cages with no access to food or water. Some animals die on the trip. Those who survive are bought by wildlife pen owners.

Facts:

* The import of foxes and coyotes to stock enclosures is illegal in many states. The Indiana Natural Resources Commission unanimously voted in July to stop the live trapping of coyotes in that state for transport to wildlife pens.
* During the recent interstate investigation, in Alabama alone 18 individuals were charged in connection to smuggling foxes and coyotes for sale to wildlife pens. Authorities brought charges against wildlife pen operators and trappers in half a dozen other states.
* Studies have found that transporting live, wild animals for penning purposes has directly led to the spread of rabies and other diseases dangerous to wildlife, pets and people.
* The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the American Veterinary Medical Association have encouraged regulations against the transporting of wildlife for penning purposes.

The HSUS works to stop wildlife abuse across the country. Visit humanesociety.org/wildlifeabuse for more information.

Indiana is the largest exporter of live-caught coyotes. These coyotes are often used in dog “training” sessions where multiple dogs are released upon a single coyote trapped in an enclosed area. The dogs are scored on how quickly they find and kill the coyote. This “training” is nothing more than legalized dog fighting, but its multiple dogs against one coyote.

The rule change does nothing to stop coyotes from being live-caught during the off-season, but rather states that they must be released or killed within 24 hours. However, during the public hearing period, many trappers stated that they would not be able to continue “removing the nuisance species” if they were unable to use the live coyotes because it would no longer be economically viable for them. This was there way of threatening the DNR and NRC; “if you don’t let us do what we want, you’ll have coyotes everywhere.” Thankfully the NRC saw through this baseless threat.

Even though the rule only applies to a six-month period, it sets a new precedent that legally states that such practices are morally questionable. Our next step is to prove this practice is not only questionable, but morally bankrupt. While we will continue working with other groups to stop this practice year-round, we encourage everyone to thank the NRC for their action. Here is their contact info:

Indiana Government Center North
100 North Senate Avenue, Room N501
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
(317) 232-4699
(317) 233-2977 Fax

Or send them an email through their online contact form.