As an anti-speciesist message, the animal rights group PETA has put up a clever advert outside a “fish & chips” shop in Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, in which a dead cat is transformed into a dead fish. This coastal town has the reputation of being the centre of the fishes flesh processing industry in the UK. The ad shows a smiling fishmonger holding up a limp fish, which is replaced with a dead cat when the ad is viewed from a different angle. The text says “Sea things in a different light. Respect all life. Go Vegan.” PETA’s billboard is located at 145 Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes DN35 7DG.
Elisa Allen, PETA’s Vice President of Programmes, said, “Fish are animals with feelings who can experience pain just as much as our animal companions can, yet fishers haul them out of the ocean, causing them to suffocate, and gut them while they’re still conscious. Everyone deserves protection from abuse, and PETA is reminding Grimbarians that sea animals all have the will to live and don’t want to die for human dinners.”
Jennifer White, Media and Communications Manager at PETA UK, said to Good Morning Britain, “There shouldn’t be anything shocking about saying that all animals deserve protection from abuse, and the whole point of this advert is to get people thinking about how fish have the exact same capacity to feel pain, to suffer, as a dog or a cat.”
PETA has a great tradition of placing ads that spark debate and draw media attention. Recently, it revealed that it’s planning to install a billboard in memory of the chickens killed in a truck fire on 16th March 2023 on the Staten Island Expressway, near Western Avenue, New York City, US.
