SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness)

Steve Hindi is the founder and president of SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK). SHARK is a non-profit charity devoted to protecting animals. Steve is a former fisherman who used to kill fish just for fun. He let them starve in buckets, he let them die slowly on shore, he stuck firecrackers in their mouths, and he smashed them with rocks. Even though his parents had taught him that fish had no feelings, Steve felt bad after watching the fish die. He was told the fish did not fear death but he questioned this when he used live fish as bait for bigger fish. The bait fish would thrash and try to escape when larger fish approached.


Steve continued fishing for years. He moved on to bigger equipment, bigger bodies of water, and bigger fish. He always had a “nagging voice suggesting that killing animals was not completely defensible as a hobby” in his head. Still he eventually went on to fulfill a lifelong dream and kill a shark. He mounted it on his wall. His questioning of his own actions continued. While fishing for tuna, the live fish would thrash and violently whip their tales on the deck in a state of panic. To calm them, they would cover them with a sheet. He realized they were scared and wanted to live. He compared them to other animals and realized he wouldn’t do that to them. His questioning continued but so did his fishing.

He shot a bird, at close range. His shotgun jammed and he could not fire a second “kill” shot and he was forced to watch the bird kick and flail his legs for thirty seconds until it ended. The moment seemed like an eternity. He knew he had done something wrong.

Steve and his brother captured a baby shark. They hooked him, brought him on board and stuck him in the hatch. It would be a great mount. Steve would keep looking down the hatch to see if the shark was dead yet and remembers the shark looking back at him. The next few kills didn’t feel the same. He was starting to feel bad about his actions.

Finally a friend opened up to Steve about his own “nagging voice of reason”. He too was having bad thoughts about all of the killing they had participated in. Steve knew he was not alone.

Steve decided he would never kill again.

Steve and his brother set out to repay their debt to animals. They fought against the organized pigeon shoots. They buried their “trophy” kills. Steve donated his fishing boat to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He became an activist for animals.

Check out Steve’s website and read more about his amazing story and his activism.


http://www.sharkonline.org/?P=0000000427