PETA’S Offer To Oslo’S Munch Museum Is A Real ‘Scream’

Animal Rights Group Wants to Replace Stolen Artwork With a Fishy ‘Forgery’

For Immediate Release:
14 July 2006

Contact:
Karen Chisholm 020 7357 9229, ext 229

It was the burglary of the decade. Two years ago, thieves broke into the Munch Museum in Oslo and made off with one of the world’s most famous paintings – Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” – and it hasn’t been seen (or heard) since. Now, PETA Europe’s German affiliate is offering to replace the priceless artwork with a new “Scream” by Italian artist Marinella Corregia.

Corregia’s painting is a dead ringer for Munch’s masterpiece except for one detail: The “screamer” in the centre of the nightmarish landscape is still a pale, ghostly figure with a gaping mouth but, instead of skin, Coreggia’s subject has scales. PETA and Corregia hope that substituting a fish as the tortured victim will raise public awareness about the silent screams of fish who are killed for food and “sport”.

Dragged from the ocean depths, fish undergo excruciating decompression; the intense internal pressure often ruptures their swim bladders, pops out their eyes and pushes their stomachs through their mouths. When tossed onto ships’ decks, many slowly suffocate or are crushed to death. Others are still alive when their bellies are slit open.

Scientific studies confirm what many marine biologists have been saying for years: Fish feel pain, just as all animals do. Fish are intelligent animals with impressive long-term memories who watch and learn, use tools and form sophisticated social structures.

According to Dr Joachim Rätz of Germany’s Federal Research Centre for Fisheries, “If fish could indeed scream, humans would be far more sensitive to their suffering”.

PETA Germany’s letter to the Munch Museum and an image of the new “Scream” are available upon request. For more information, please visit FishingHurts.com.