Alan Cumming Joins Campaign Against Scotland’s First Caviar Farm
Alan Cumming has sent a letter to Argyll and Bute Council urging it to reject plans for a cruel caviar farm. The Scottish actor and long-time PETA supporter also enclosed a package of vegan caviar to highlight the availability of tasty, cruelty-free alternatives.
“With an abundance of delicious, cruelty-free alternatives to caviar available, building a farm in order to breed and kill animals for a fleeting moment of taste is unjustifiable and inhumane,” writes Cumming. “Many discerning gourmets, including the head chef of the BAFTA Awards dinner, have opted for vegan caviar – which tastes fantastic and doesn’t harm animals. I’ve enclosed some for you to try. I hope you’ll enjoy it and that you’ll agree that farming fish for caviar has no place in Scotland’s future.”
The proposed farm, which would breed and kill sturgeons to produce caviar, would be the first of its kind in Scotland and only the second in the UK. In the wild, sturgeons live in open rivers and migrate vast distances upstream to breed, but on commercial fish farms, they’re confined to severely crowded tanks, where they have no option but to spend their lives swimming in endless circles. Deprived of the opportunity to engage in any of their natural behaviour, they’re highly susceptible to stress and aggression. Many also sustain physical injuries, such as damage to their tails, because of the intense crowding. At the end of their miserable lives, they’re transferred to an ice bath, where their gills are cut and they’re left to bleed out – a slow, painful way to die.
PETA submitted a petition against the proposal, signed by more than 5,000 of our supporters, earlier this year.
What You Can Do
The best thing you can do to help fish is not to eat them. With so many tasty vegan fish and seafood products available, it’s never been easier to leave cruelty off your plate. Order one of PETA’s free vegan starter kits for recipes and tips on making the switch.
