PETA demands that Predators fans stop throwing catfish on ice ahead of playoffs

The postseason is right around the corner and the Nashville Predators are excited for another run at the Cup. 

Which means their intense and passionate fans are too. This consequently pushed PETA to send out a letter asking fans to stop throwing catfish onto the ice after goals.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to the Predators on Wednesday and offered to ship 1,000 plastic fish in exchange for prohibiting the routine of throwing catfish onto the ice when a player scores. 

Here is what the letter said: 

Greetings from PETA,

The Nashville Predators are gearing up for the playoffs — and so is PETA! We’ll be at the first home playoff game with boxes full of free squeezable catfish toys, and enclosed you’ll find a sneak peek. 

We’ll be giving these toys away to encourage fans to leave /real/ catfish off the ice. Fish are smart, social animals, and just like dogs, cats, and humans they feel pain. They have distinct personalities, and they communicate with each other, form bonds, and can even recognize individual fish and remember past social interactions with them. We hope that going forward, “Smashville” will smash not just the competition but /also/ cruelty to animals.

Here’s to a successful playoff season for fans and fish alike!

It isn’t the first time PETA tries to get fans to cease throwing the animal on the ice. 

The tradition of throwing a catfish after a goal goes back more than a decade as a Music City response to Detroit’s octopus.

It was also controversial in 2016 when the Predators reached the Stanley Cup, which they lost at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.