Painted Fish and Felines

A recent human trend defaces the natural beauty of certain fish with the injected dyes of a tattoo. Unfortunately, there have been some fish fatalities as a result. Probably the humans don’t think it of any consequence since these fish can be replaced at various pet stores for only a few dollars. For the fish, on the other hand, the human intervention may not only cause pain, suffering, and the equivalent of a bad hair- should I say bad scale- day, it may mess with the message being emitted to prospective mates. I thought this was the epitome of human insensitivity to us animals until I became aware of the content of a certain forwarded email showing photographs of painted cats!!! These sorry looking felines matched their human captors- one cat was painted in a navy blue and green tartan plaid design to match a man's kilt; one had a clown painted up its butt underneath its proudly swaying tail. Another was painted to look like a peacock feather- talk about gender confusion- this is appalling! It seems to be a phenomenon most commonly associated with the human species. The unfortunate truth is that since humans have the most flexible abilities and the most devious/deviant motives, no animal species is guaranteed safety if it pleases the humans and if they have the funds required. Painting a cat, according to this email, costs a mere $15,000 and lasts only three months before needing to be repeated.