For Immediate Release:
10 June 2024
Contact:
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Anushka Yadav; AYadav@petaindia.org
Bhubaneswar – To mark World Oceans Day (8 June), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has erected billboards in Bhubaneswar and other cities across India that show a turtle ensnared in plastic netting as a reminder that killing fish also costs turtles their lives. Up to 1 million tonnes of fishing gear – which can take 600 years to degrade – enters the oceans every year, killing over 2,50,000 turtles who get caught in it.
The billboard in Bhubaneswar is located on Kalpana Road, Kalpana Square, Ashok Nagar. The copy of the Ad is available upon request.
Non-target animals killed by fishing gear, referred to as “bycatch” by the fishing industry, include 7,20,000 seabirds, 3,00,000 whales and dolphins, 3,45,000 seals and sea lions, and 100 million sharks and rays. PETA India notes that fishing is considered the biggest threat to marine wildlife.
“Eating one sensitive, intelligent fish can spell suffering for other animals, including endangered species,” says PETA India Manager of Vegan Projects Dr Kiran Ahuja. “PETA India urges everyone to keep marine life healthy this World Oceans Day – and every day – by choosing compassionate vegan foods.”
More fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined. Fish feel pain as acutely as mammals do, have long-term memories, use tools, and play and sing underwater – yet they and other marine animals are impaled, crushed, suffocated, dropped into pots of boiling water, or cut open and gutted, all while they’re still conscious.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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