Founder of PETA Entities Worldwide ‘Chopped’ on Ice Block in Mumbai to Appeal for Fish Empathy
Joggers, cyclists, and other passersby along the Carter Road Promenade in Bandra West saw a striking scene against the Arabian Sea: the founder of PETA entities worldwide, Ingrid Newkirk, dressed as a fish sprawled across a blood drenched slab of “ice” – was gasping and fighting for her life as a “fisherman” appeared to chop her into pieces. Surrounded by signs reading, “Fish Feel, Please Don’t Eat Them,” the macabre display comes as fish consumption in India and globally has reached crisis levels—with 72% of the Indian public now consuming fish. Globally, up to 2.7 trillion fish suffer painful deaths to be eaten each year. Newkirk, who grew up in India and was inspired to start PETA inspired by India’s historical reverence for animals, aims to help the public consider that fish feel pain and fear and do not want to suffer and die. A study published in Scientific Reports reveals fish can endure more than 20 minutes of excruciating pain before they succumb to suffocation.
“Imagine being suffocated, crushed, or sliced open while conscious and able to feel all of what is happening to you. Up to trillions of fish suffer these horrific fates every year. PETA India urges everyone to see marine animals for the sensitive individuals they are and please, go vegan.” – Ingrid Newkirk
India is the world’s second-largest fish producer and ranks second in aquaculture production (an estimated up to 14 billion fish are factory-farmed in India). Farmed fish are reared in overcrowded, filthy environments where parasites, bacterial infections, and disease are rife. Meanwhile, commercial fishing casts such a wide net that each year, the industry also kills vast numbers of non-target animals, including 720,000 seabirds, 300,000 whales and dolphins, 345,000 seals and sea lions, and 100 million sharks and rays.
Scientists have confirmed that fish feel pain as acutely as mammals do, have long-term memories, can recognise themselves in a mirror, and communicate using squeaks, squeals, and other low-frequency sounds that humans can only hear with special instruments. More fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined, often in agonising ways – they’re impaled, crushed, gutted, or dropped into boiling water while still alive and conscious.
Everyone who goes vegan saves the lives of up to nearly 200 animals a year, reduces their carbon footprint from food by up to 73%, and reduces their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. According to the United Nations, a global shift towards vegan eating is necessary to combat the worst effects of the climate catastrophe.
