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Animal rights groups urge CCTV to drop goldfish magic
By Pan Zheng |
February 15, 2011, Tuesday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
FIFTY-THREE animal rights groups have sent an open letter to the organizer of CCTV Spring Festival Gala Show, requesting to ban the magic using goldfish as a prop in Thursday's Lantern Festival variety show. This magic, firstly played in the Spring Festival gala show, raised broad suspicion that the fish was tortured.
Chen Linchun, the show's chief director, said yesterday that there would be no animal magic on Thursday's show on CCTV and the magician, Fu Yandong, claimed on media that his magic didn't involve any torture to goldfish, Beijing News reported.
In the magic, Fu gave orders to goldfish with a whistle and those fish swim in formation in any direction he wanted. After the show, there was a heated discussion on the Internet, trying to find out his secret. Of all the possible ways, people believed the magician may have put a tiny magnet into the fish or direct their movement using electric shock.
Fu denied his magic involved animal torture and rejected to reveal his secret, claiming it was a rule among magicians.
In their open letter to CCTV directors, the 53 animal rights groups, including the Darwin Natural Society and the ACT Asia for Animals, suggested to ban such animal performances from all its gala shows to prevent imitation by the audience.
"People have no idea how to achieve the magic effect without hurting goldfish," Liu Huimi, a researcher with the Darwin Natural Society and one of the letter writers, told the newspaper. "Before we know what's exactly going on in the magic, we don't think it's appropriate to show such magic."
Fu's agent surnamed Liang told the newspaper that Fu didn't do anything that may torture the fish, but some Internet users did in their imitations. Therefore, he called on the audience, especially youngsters, not to simulate the magic.
Chen Linchun, the show's chief director, said yesterday that there would be no animal magic on Thursday's show on CCTV and the magician, Fu Yandong, claimed on media that his magic didn't involve any torture to goldfish, Beijing News reported.
In the magic, Fu gave orders to goldfish with a whistle and those fish swim in formation in any direction he wanted. After the show, there was a heated discussion on the Internet, trying to find out his secret. Of all the possible ways, people believed the magician may have put a tiny magnet into the fish or direct their movement using electric shock.
Fu denied his magic involved animal torture and rejected to reveal his secret, claiming it was a rule among magicians.
In their open letter to CCTV directors, the 53 animal rights groups, including the Darwin Natural Society and the ACT Asia for Animals, suggested to ban such animal performances from all its gala shows to prevent imitation by the audience.
"People have no idea how to achieve the magic effect without hurting goldfish," Liu Huimi, a researcher with the Darwin Natural Society and one of the letter writers, told the newspaper. "Before we know what's exactly going on in the magic, we don't think it's appropriate to show such magic."
Fu's agent surnamed Liang told the newspaper that Fu didn't do anything that may torture the fish, but some Internet users did in their imitations. Therefore, he called on the audience, especially youngsters, not to simulate the magic.
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