People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced on its web site Wednesday that it “punked” the Miami Marlins.
The team offered fans the opportunity to be immortalized in the stadium by purchasing personalized bricks. PETA bought a brick reading “Florida Is Still Hosting Incredible Night Games. Helps Us Reach The Stars. Cheer Our Marlins!”, but the animal advocacy group says their brick contains a hidden message.
If you take the first letter of each word, PETA points out, it spells "FishingHurts.com." The web site redirects to PETA's anti-fishing page, which lists all the consequences of catch-and-release hobby fishing and outlines how fish feel pain:
When fish are yanked from the water, they begin to suffocate. Their gills often collapse, and their swim bladders can rupture because of the sudden change in pressure. Numerous scientific reports from around the world confirm that fish feel pain.
“PETA’s brick is designed to remind everyone that fish feel pain and suffer when they’re impaled with a sharp metal hook and pulled into an environment in which they can’t breathe,” PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman wrote in a statement to CBS Miami. “Instead of hooking fish, PETA wants Marlins fans to get hooked on compassion—and bench fishing permanently.”
Two years ago, PETA reached out to the team to reconsider its plans for two saltwater aquariums. Reiman wrote to the Marlins and said that the sound and lights would be “maddening” to the fish who would be in something the size of a bathtub for the rest of their lives.
WATCH: The Marlins aren't the only ones who have upset PETA.