Wednesday, July 23, 2008

This Seems A Little Fish-Y


A Virginia spa employs tiny carp on its pedicure clients. LITERALLY. The fish are called garra rufa, or, more commonly, doctor fish, and have been used for similar treatments in Turkey and other Asian countries. While the procedure reeks of novelty appeal, the fish apparently do a pretty bang up job, as one customer enthusiastically declared it “the best pedicure I ever had.” The owner said that he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they're sanitary.... so he thought of fish??

Forcing fish to eat people’s calluses for no pay in sweatshop conditions…sounds like a case for PETA. Maybe a gimick, but interesting article nonetheless.