Fish frozen in the ice as a display

[Catherine]

A skating rink froze  fish and other sea creatures into the ice to create a display. They did use animals that were already dead, but the display is still gruesome.
http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0


It is utterly horrible to look at and the Japanese public felt the same way.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

The Japanese reaction was so strong the rink closed right away and is defrosting everything. They will even hold a memorial for the dead animals. 

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...392&at=dt0

They have apologized, but is it enough. Why would anyone even think of such a thing in the first place. They could have painted happy fish pictures under the ice. Instead the fish look like they are suffering.
http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0


I am not going to lose the images from my mind. They are going to haunt me. How must people feel who actually went to skate there. Perhaps they will never reopen after this.  Would you want to go back even after the fish have been removed.

[Tobi]

It's horrible and unnecessary. They said the fish were "already dead". If that was the case, then what are they doing wasting all that food ? If the fish were already dead and there was nothing they could do about that, then meat and fish eaters could have eaten that food. It should have been donated to the poor, not wasted as if it means nothing. Not used for an ice rink "art display".
If the fish weren't already dead, and were killed for that purpose, then that is terrible.
What a sad waste of life.
I am glad there was such a public uproar about it.

[LPC]

Catherine, I saw your initial post but didn't have time to reply until now. I did, however, start a thread about it on two other forums, as I felt it deserved an airing.

Here is what I wrote in my latest post on AF:
"I suspect that they thought they could make lots of money because of something "new". But the public reaction shows what people thought of the idea. The attraction park has claimed that the fish were already dead when they were frozen, but I suspect that this is just a public relations damage limitation cover-up. The fish can be seen in one photo with all their mouths gaping wide open. Also, I doubt whether the attraction park bought old, already dead fish which were no longer fit for consumption (as it claims), as such fish could have presented a health risk. So the poor fish were probably frozen alive.

Eating sentient creatures for food is one thing, but killing them to be used as a skating attraction only is another thing."

I find the whole idea abhorrent and upsetting.

[Catherine]

Quote:Here is what I wrote in my latest post on AF:

"I suspect that they thought they could make lots of money because of something "new". But the public reaction shows what people thought of the idea. The attraction park has claimed that the fish were already dead when they were frozen, but I suspect that this is just a public relations damage limitation cover-up. The fish can be seen in one photo with all their mouths gaping wide open. Also, I doubt whether the attraction park bought old, already dead fish which were no longer fit for consumption (as it claims), as such fish could have presented a health risk. So the poor fish were probably frozen alive.

Quote:If the fish weren't already dead, and were killed for that purpose, then that is terrible.

Looking at the fish gasping, I think they froze them alive.  That was my initial thought and I still stand by it.
Transporting that many dead fish and setting them out would be tricky. they would spoil very quickly. The only fish and other sea creatures that wouldn't spoil, would be live ones.  

They are defrosting them as fertilizer. All those animals died to become fertilizer!
It is a tragic loss of life and with hungry people all around it is a tragic loss of food. At least if they died they could have given life back as food. To just kill animals for a publicity stunt is shameful

I don't know about the larger animal (whale shark?). They say it was a picture. Then why not use pictures of all the other creatures.

They could have used fish figures that look very lifelike and it could have been a pretty display. The sight of all those fish gasping is creepy. Knowing what they are is heartbreaking.

I hope this is a global lesson for anyone who wants to do a similar display. The public won't like it and it seems that we the public have the last word.

[Ruth]

I couldn't even look at the pictures; don't want to be haunted as I am by other things enough already. It sure was a huge mistake of them to do that. What the heck where they thinking? Were they drunk?

[Tobi]

I think this idea is about as popular as Lady Gaga's 'raw meat dress'. Or fur coats. We don't want to see creative art work or display made from animal life and suffering.

[Catherine]

Quote:I couldn't even look at the pictures; don't want to be haunted as I am by other things enough already. It sure was a huge mistake of them to do that. What the heck where they thinking? Were they drunk?

I am glad you didn't look at the pictures. It is creepy horrible.
Either very drunk or their creative display department is doing a very bad job.

Quote:I think this idea is about as popular as Lady Gaga's 'raw meat dress'. Or fur coats. We don't want to see creative art work or display made from animal life and suffering.

I don't think dead anything is a suitable as a display, adornment or entertainment.
We need to start seeing living beings as actually having life and not a life that belongs to us, but a separate life.

It is a good sign that things are improving when the public reacted so strongly to the dead fish display.
I have a lot of respect for the Japanese people who reacted so strongly that the whole display was closed and dismantled.