JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – "Don't let your kids become hookers." That's the latest campaign slogan being pushed by the animal rights group, PETA.
The catchy slogan supports its protest of sport fishing and parents who teach their children to fish.
The group is bringing the movement and their controversial campaign to Jacksonville Wednesday afternoon.
Peta members will gather at the Friendship Fountain on the Southbank around noon Wednesday to take part in an anti-fishing campaign leading up to Father's Day.
Their message is to parents. They say parents who teach their children to fish are sending the message that it's okay to torment and kill animals.
PETA protestors will be holding signs that say, "Don't let your kids become hookers" and handing out flyers with a gruesome picture of a hooked fish.
"People don't really think how fish feel," PETA campaigner Hayden Hamilton said. "They suffer when they're caught and killed. Seven million Americans are actually allergic to seafood so there's so many great options, vegetarian and vegan options, so we don't have to keep poisoning our bodies with mercury and we don't have to abuse animals while we're at it."
PETA also released a poster with a hook through a dog, which many may find disturbing. Its message is that hooking and killing a fish is no different than doing that to the family pet.
"Most parents would never dream of spending their family weekend trying to hook the family dog. But hooking a fish through the mouth and dragging him through the water is just as cruel as hooking the family dog through the mouth and dragging him behind your car," Hamilton said. "Fish feel pain and suffer just like all animals do and they deserve to be protected from abuse."
Fishermen argue dogs and fish are completely different saying that people depend on fish to live.
"That's not cruel. That's not cruel to fish. A lot of people survive off of fish," fishermen Curtis Washington said. "They catch fish to survive off. That's all they eat. I know some people living on the water. There's a guy down there on Trout River. He's got a little houseboat. He catches fish. He feeds off fish. That's all he eats is fish."
PETA members will gather at the Friendship Fountain at noon Wednesday. They'll also have their fish mascot, hoping to reach out to parents and kids with their anti-fishing message.