Pretty fishy

Overheard in a Starbucks:

"Have you guys heard of the new trend? ... It's called fish painting. You buy a real fish and you paint it. The point is touching the fish."

I was about to blog about the iPhone's release date (June 29) and how it's another checkpoint in the amazing way technology is changing how we interact, when I overheard the above quote. Writing about perhaps one of the most important technological revolutions of the past year was completely trumped by the intriguing idea of fish painting.

I thought she was lying. However, a Google search revealed that fish painting is also known as juicing or dying the fish.

My first thought was, 'where do I buy a fish to paint?' Visions of a happy childhood painting Easter eggs melded with the idea of the joy I could have painting and showing off my proud, swimming little painted fishy.

Alas, Wikipedia sunk my fun. The party-pooping online encyclopedia says fish painting is a "stressful, painful process" that leaves fish susceptible to disease. And apparently, it's not a hobby at all. Some pet stores inject the fish several times with a syringe to make their tropical fare more colourful, and therefore more pricey.

Visions of a squirmy little koi and me trying as hard as I can to keep my paintbrush between the lines faded.

So Starbucks girl had her facts a little mixed up. But it's for our benefit because we now know of the savage cruelty to our cuddly, splashy friends. There are groups which lobby against this aberration of nature: "The British publication Practical Fishkeeping started a campaign in 1996 to ask retailers to stop selling dyed fish," says Wikipedia, adding the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has also condemned the practice.

So hooray! And don't give me Kurt Cobain's attitude that "fish don't have feelings" because Finding Nemo taught me otherwise.