News Releases

NEARLY NAKED 'MERMAID' STICKS UP FOR FISH

PETA Member Will Urge Passers-By to Try to Relate to Who's on Their Plate at Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier Tomorrow

 

For Immediate Release:

21 November 2011

 

Hong Kong -- Wearing little more than "fins" and a "seashell" bra, an activist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia will dress as a sexy mermaid tomorrow to encourage people not to eat fish. The lovely lady will hold a sign reading, "Fishing Hurts", while other PETA members hand out leaflets.

 

When:         Tuesday, 22 November, 12 noon sharp

Where:        The Five Flag Poles at Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier

 

"Fish might not be cute and cuddly, but when it comes to feeling pain and having a will to live, they're just like all other animals", says PETA "mermaid" Ashley Fruno. "We're urging everyone to take a compassionate stand every day by leaving fish and other animals off their plates."

 

PETA hopes that the "mermaid" will help people understand that fish are intelligent animals who experience fear and distress when they are hooked or netted and pulled from the water. Scientific studies confirm that fish are sensitive individuals who feel pain, just as dogs and cats do. A recent issue of the journal Fish and Fisheries cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence proving that fish are smart, can use tools and have impressive long-term memories and sophisticated social structures.

 

Not only do people who adopt a vegan diet help fish, they also protect other animals -- including humans. On factory farms, animals used for food are routinely mutilated without being given any painkillers and are confined to filthy, extremely crowded spaces for their entire lives. At the slaughterhouse, animals often have their throats cut while they are still conscious. Animal agriculture is also a leading contributor to environmental problems, and animal-derived products raise consumers' risk for diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other conditions.

 

Hong Kong residents consume more polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) -- the same chemical that's used to make furniture and other products fire retardant -- via fish consumption than residents in other developed countries, such as the US, the UK, Japan and Spain. Studies show that PDBEs may cause infertility in men as well as prostate and breast cancer. Besides PBDEs, fish flesh can accumulate a wealth of toxins, including insecticides, dioxin, cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium and arsenic -- at levels 9 million times more toxic than the waters they live in.

 

For more information, please visit PETAAsiaPacific.com.

 

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