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Police: Anglers Baiting Hooks With Kittens
POSTED: 10:44 a.m. EDT July 10, 2003
UPDATED: 10:50 a.m. EDT July 10, 2003
Police in Italy said anglers are using live kittens as bait while fishing for sheat fish, according to a report.
Giuseppe Lagana, who is a police officer in Mantua, told the European Independent Digital news organization that the first such incident authorities are aware of occurred in May and that police believe there were others as well.
Apparently, the anglers are using the kittens to catch a giant catfish called a sheat fish, which can weigh as much as 660 pounds.
"We've received a lot of indications that there are other such cases," he told The Independent. "During one of our last nocturnal patrols, one boat managed to evade our checks. It ignored warnings and cleared off with its lights extinguished. We suspect that this was also one of these fishermen without a conscience. Using live kittens to catch sheat fish is an unheard of cruelty."
The sheatfish is not a native species of Italian waterways and has taken over as the river's largest predator, KNSD-TV reported. Having consumed all of the area's eels and carp, the sheatfish has been observed gobbling up ducks and rats, according to the report.
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