Topless women, painted and dressed to resemble fish, lay in the street in Seattle, while members of the PETA organization carry signs protesting the Pike Place Fish Market tradition of tossing fish. They say that fish can feel pain. No doubt. But the fish being tossed — are dead.

PETA has a campaign underway to rename fish “sea kittens.”  In an interview with NPR, PETA campaign coordinator Ashley Byrne explains:

“Fish not only have the same ability to feel pain as a dog or a cat, but they also communicate with one another,” she says. “They have complex social interactions; they form bonds; they express affection by gently rubbing against one another…

“Most parents would never dream of spending a weekend torturing kittens for fun with their families, but hooking a sea kitten through the mouth and dragging her through the water is the same as hooking a kitten through the mouth and dragging her behind your car,” Byrne says.

The Sea Kitten campaign launched in North Carolina, but PETA plans to expand it across the nation, according to NPR.  And they’ve already asked South Dakota’s Spearfish High School to change its name to “Sea Kitten High School”.

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