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Voices For Animals Cleans Up Harmful Fishing Tackle in North Park
by Voices for Animals of Western PA
Tuesday, Jul. 31, 2007 at 5:00 AM
voicesforanimals@gmail.com (email address validated) 1-877-321-4VFA P.O. Box 7181, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
In response to the slaughter of North Park geese, VFA volunteers gathered up discarded fishing tackle in North Park to make the park safer for the animals living there and to show the County the Park has bigger problems than geese feces.
On the late Saturday afternoon of July 28th, VFA volunteers were in North Park picking up discarded pieces of fishing tackle and trash left behind by park visitors in order to clean the park and make it a little safer for the animals who live there. The group found a great number of fishing hooks, tangles and tangles of monofilament fishing line, bobbers and lead sinkers-many of which needed to be retrieved from trees and the lake-and other pieces of hazardous fishing gear. Each one of these items is harmful and deadly to animals.
Besides killing fish, anglers leave behind a trail of tackle victims-including birds, turtles, bats, and countless other animals. Animals are all too often maimed, seriously injured, and killed when they come across discarded fishing tackle. Discarded fishing line alone accounts for as much as 1/3 of all trash-related wildlife injuries. Birds and bats who fly into fishing line caught in trees become entangled and slowly starve to death, and animals who get entangled in line on the ground can become trapped underwater and drown when it catches on rocks or logs. Wildlife experts and rehabilitators-those who must deal with the grim, often tragic consequences-estimate such entanglements have led to the deaths of thousands of birds, as well as the amputation of limbs of many others. Birds who swallow hooks can suffer lacerated beaks and throats and animals can be poisoned or can choke when they swallow lead sinkers and plastic fishing lures. Not to mention such items can be harmful to humans as well, especially children.
The VFA volunteers gathered up all this trash and fishing gear and presented it to the media just to show how much of a huge hazardous mess of it was collected in just a short 2 ½ hours. Allegheny County officials’ shameful excuse for recently killing 272 Canada geese in North Park was that the geese feces the birds were leaving behind was creating an unsightly mess and park visitors were complaining. However, judging by the amount of trash and fishing gear VFA picked up, North Park has a much more serious and harmful problem on their hands than geese feces and they should be addressing it instead. While some park visitors point, blame, and have geese killed for simply doing what comes naturally, they continually leave behind an even bigger problem by their own laziness and callousness.
Hazardous Waste
by Voices for Animals of Western PA
Tuesday, Jul. 31, 2007 at 5:00 AM
voicesforanimals@gmail.com 1-877-321-4VFA P.O. Box 7181, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
A collection of hooks, fishing line, plastic and lead sinkers, and other hazardous fishing gear picked up inside North Park-all a danger to animals and children.
More Trash and Harmful Fishing Tackle
by Voices for Animals of Western PA
Tuesday, Jul. 31, 2007 at 5:00 AM
voicesforanimals@gmail.com 1-877-321-4VFA P.O. Box 7181, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
The pile of found fishing tackle is surrounded by bags of garbage also picked up at the park.
Nice work
by yinsurgent
Thursday, Aug. 02, 2007 at 11:14 AM
Nice work. Good to see some direct action instead of the typical symbolic attempts to reform capitalism.
The Bigelow Grille is still serving foie gras and seems to be quite proud of it.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_517883.html
http://www.bigelowgrille.com/bg_dinner_menu.htm
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