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Title: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: Shockeye on March 17, 2005, 02:07:41 PM Quote from: Scripps Howard News Service Swallowing Goldfish Could Lead to Big Fine, Jail Time (http://www.river959.com/script/headline_newsmanager.php?id=393603&pagecontent=weirdnews&feed_id=64) By DAVID MONTERO - Scripps Howard News Service Arvada, Colo. -- Bennigan's Grill and Tavern was scheduled to have a St. Patrick's Day contest featuring revelers swallowing goldfish until it learned the stunt could bring a steep fine and jail time. "It was something we'd heard from some of our guests, that it was cruel to animals," manager Leonard Apodaca said. "We want to take care of our guests and address their concerns, so we canceled it." In Arvada, swallowing a goldfish could bring a $999 fine, six months in jail - or possibly both. The investigation started when the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals contacted the Arvada Police Department to determine if goldfish swallowing was in violation of animal-cruelty laws. It was, according to Becky Robison, supervisor of the animal-management unit at the Arvada Police Department. "Yes, it's a goldfish, but since it's considered a domestic animal, we think it was a fit within the city ordinance," she said. "The fish was going to be put in alcohol, and that would burn their lungs out. That was the most disturbing thing." That is a different slant on a fad that has been around since 1939, when Harvard freshman Leonard Withington famously swallowed a goldfish on a dare - sans alcohol. According to the Bad Fads Museum in Chicago, Withington's stunt began a craze around the country on college campuses. According to museum officials, a professor at the time claimed that a person could swallow 150 goldfish without adverse side effects. But a U.S. Public Health advisory in 1939 warned that eating live goldfish could actually result in the swallower getting anemia because of tapeworms inside the fish. The health debate for humans aside, PETA spokeswoman Jennifer O'Connor said it is not only cruel to the fish, but that the contest seemed pointless to her - especially when tied to St. Patrick's Day. "Look, my last name is O'Connor and I'm as Irish as you can get," she said. "And I can tell you, I never saw people swallowing goldfish on St. Patrick's Day. I don't get it." Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: HaemishM on March 17, 2005, 02:21:48 PM Wow, PETA makes me want to get stabby again.
Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: schild on March 17, 2005, 02:26:47 PM "Look, my last name is O'Connor and I'm as Irish as you can get," she said. "And I can tell you, I never saw people swallowing goldfish on St. Patrick's Day. I don't get it." I don't get it either. Your whole organization is a bunch of hippie freaks, FREAK. I find most of what you do awkward and irrational. Please stop. Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: MaceVanHoffen on March 17, 2005, 02:27:43 PM They should have a contest to swallow these instead:
(http://www.bennigans.com/images/micro_menu/food_montecristo.jpg) Tastier and deadlier than goldfish. Bonus: multiple animals give all or part of themselves for a single meal. Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: schild on March 17, 2005, 02:28:22 PM Monte Christo sandwiches are fantastic. That one looks like it came from the Bennigan's menu. God I love those things.
Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: Paelos on March 17, 2005, 02:32:56 PM Monte Christo sandwiches are fantastic. That one looks like it came from the Bennigan's menu. God I love those things. Ah yes, the Bennigan's Early Grave Combo. Monte Cristo and a Guiness. Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: schild on March 17, 2005, 02:33:34 PM Monte Christo sandwiches are fantastic. That one looks like it came from the Bennigan's menu. God I love those things. Ah yes, the Bennigan's Early Grave Combo. Monte Cristo and a Guiness. Used to get that once a week when I was near full time at Bestbuy. I think I put on 700lbs each day and uhm "lost it" as the evening went on. Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: Ironwood on March 18, 2005, 02:33:14 AM eeewwww
Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: SirBruce on March 18, 2005, 05:22:07 AM Reminds me of Denny's Moons Over My Hammy.
Bruce Title: Re: I guess I can't get rid of my fish this way. Post by: Jayce on March 18, 2005, 05:26:21 AM Wow, PETA makes me want to get stabby again. a. I've been a vegetarian for 10 years now. Even I think PETA is full of insane wackos. b. Because I'm a vegetarian I happen to know that fish don't have nervous systems like you and I. They don't feel pain the way we are familiar with. Hence, there is nothing cruel about swallowing goldfish. Oh, and they also have a memory span so short that by the time they hit the lake of hydrochloric acid, they have no memory of the outside world. |