Sir,
Please refer to the article in Sunday Magazine of this paper on 29th Jan titled “Fish feel pain” by Ms Maneka Gandhi. It is an interesting and informative article. She has rightly mentioned the definition of pain referring to the The International Association for the study of pain as, “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. The inability to communicate verbally does not negate the possibility that an individual is experiencing pain”.
All of us have observed at one time or the other animals like dogs,cats, cattle,birds and others scream when in pain.Obviously they scream due to feeling pain caused by injury or threat to their lives like humans do. Certain categories of animals like fish, amphibians, reptiles and even lower life forms like worms and insects lacking vocalisation and can not produce sounds as a result of injury does not mean that they do not feel pain.
The author has mentioned neurotransmitters and nociceptors found in animals like mammals and fish which transmit sensations like pain. She has also, rightly so, referred to the observation of Dr. Stephanie that, “Pain is not an evolutionary adaptation that helps individuals survive. A trait, like pain perception, is not likely to have suddenly disappeared for one particular taxonomic class”.
As a fish biologist myself having handled live fish for experimentation I can with certainty say that fish do writh with pain and some even produce sounds as a result. In experiments fish biologists “pith” the fish by striking head with some hard object to make them senseless before proceeding further. “Vivisection” meaning cutting a live animal for experimentation is a legal offence in all western countries including Britain, where I had occasion to work and make observations on fish.
Science experiments on animals are inevitable for enriching our knowledge but we as humans need to treat our subjects with kindness. In this regard Ms Maneka Gandhi’s work to make people aware and sensitise them towards “voiceless” creatures is admirable. I appreciate that by publishing her articles with prominence you are doing your bit .
Yours etc…..
Prof. B. L. Kaul
Society for Popularization of Science,
Sarwal, Jammu
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