Silent Scream
Thanks to host Marco Pierre White, there will be plenty of screaming on Channel 5’s soon-to-debut Marco Pierre White’s Kitchen Wars. But for every meal prepared on the show, there will be countless screams that go unheard – those of the fish whose bodies are cut up, cooked and plated. That’s why PETA has sent a letter to the network asking for space to air our hard-hitting new anti-bullying TV spot, “Silent Scream”, during the show’s 7 June premiere. White’s feud with PETA dates back to 2006, when he was quoted in news reports making snide comments about PETA’s fact-based assertion that fish are intelligent animals who feel pain. White also kills fish and other animals for “sport”.
“Fish feel pain and fear, and they suffer when they are impaled, crushed, suffocated or cut open and gutted, all while they’re fully conscious”, says PETA’s Ben Williamson “It’s never right to hurt others simply because they are weaker and can’t speak up for themselves – regardless of what species they happen to be.”
Biologists have found that fish develop relationships with each other and even grieve when their companions die. Some fish are capable of using tools, while others gather information by eavesdropping. These intelligent, sensitive animals are so good-natured that Dr. Sylvia Earle, the world’s leading marine biologist, said, “I wouldn’t deliberately eat a grouper any more than I’d eat a cocker spaniel”.
Urge Chefs to Use Their Influence for Good
Tweet your favourite celebrity chef and ask him or her to consider the lives of fish in their kitchens. Remind them that fish feel pain and politely ask them to put down the knife. Click on the names of the following celebrity chefs and then tweet at them:
