http://www.local6.com/news/2323433/detail.html

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.