IF R Hutchinson thinks angling is a compassionate activity (Letters, August 30), then he clearly hasn't seen the latest scientific evidence.
Professor Donald Broom of Cambridge University, in line with the RSPCA and all those who have studied piscine physiology, states that "fish have the mechanism for feeling pain, and show the same kind of responses which we would show in a situation which is painful".
Professor Frank Hurd, a micro-biologist at Melbourne University, adds: "The argument which says that vertebrates such as fish do not feel pain is an argument of convenience".
Yet still the myths about the insensitivity of fish, and the sensitivity of anglers, persist. As the old saying goes: "A fishing rod is a stick with a primitive, cold-blooded, unfeeling creature atone end, and a fish at the other".
J Butler,
Belle Vue Street,
Heslington Road,
York.
Updated: 10:33 Thursday, September 01, 2005
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