Animal Activist Changes Her Name to FishingHurts

By Anastacia Mott Austin

I guess BabyHarpSealSuffers was already taken…..and a bit too long.

The former Rachel Feather, 21, decided this week to formally change her name to Rachel FishingHurts, because she feels that fish are "the forgotten animal."

Feather (her new name isn’t in effect yet) first appeared before a judge in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she lives, to request that her last name be changed to FishingHurts.com, after the website sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The judge denied her, saying that a name could not have a dot-com suffix on it, but suggested to Feather that she accept a compromise and change her name to FishingHurts.

Feather accepted, saying that she will ask her family and friends to call her FishingHurts.com anyway.

She says she’s doing it to get people to visit the website, and to raise awareness of the suffering fish endure when being hunted for sport or food.

"When fish are dragged from the ocean’s depths, they undergo excruciating decompression," says a press release on the PETA website. "Many slowly suffocate, are crushed to death, or are cut up while still alive on ships’ decks. On fish farms, they are stuffed into tanks so tightly that they can barely move."

Feather would like to point out that she agrees with movie fish Nemo, in saying that fish are friends, not food. "Rachel has made a compassionate decision to change her name so that everyone she comes in contact with will understand that fish can feel pain just like dogs, chickens and pigs," said PETA representative Lindsay Rajt.

Feather became a vegetarian at age 13, after watching a video about how animals are treated at factory farms.

She told reporters that she grew up in a family who enjoyed hunting, but that now her sister and mother are also vegetarian.

PETA’s FishingHurts.com website explains the habits of fish, how they are capable of feeling, thinking, and forming relationships.

Feather says she chose fish as her cause because while people care and will take action against abuses toward "cute" animals like kittens and puppies (and baby harp seals), fish are generally not thought of in the same way.

By changing her name, she hopes to encourage people to visit the website. "Fish should be respected, not mutilated on hooks or dragged up from the sea," said Feather to PETA. "I'll remind people of that every time they say or read my name."