Will Fishguard Live Up to Its Name? PETA Asks Town to Display Fish Empathy Quilt

4 October 2024

Will Fishguard Live Up to Its Name? PETA Asks Town to Display Fish Empathy Quilt

Fishguard, Pembrokeshire – PETA sent a letter to Fishguard and Goodwick Town Council offering to donate the Fish Empathy Quilt for the town to display as a reminder that each fish is an individual deserving of kindness and respect. The quilt has already made a splash across the US – and Fishguard has a one-time opportunity to become the first town in Britain to display it.

Panels from the Fish Empathy Quilt. Credit: PETA

“Fish are smart, social animals who feel pain and fear and don’t want to be dragged from their homes and killed any more than a human does,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen. “PETA encourages Fishguard to live up to its name and tip the scales towards compassion for sea life by displaying this beautiful quilt.”

The Fish Empathy Quilt measures about 28 square metres and is composed of over 100 unique squares handcrafted by PETA supporters, including cartoonist Harry Bliss and oceanographic explorer and film producer Jean-Michel Cousteau.

PETA points out that fish share knowledge and have long memories and cultural traditions. Some woo potential partners by creating intricate works of art in the sand on the ocean floor – yet more fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined. In addition, 38 million tonnes of other aquatic animals – including whales, dolphins, turtles, and sharks – are unintentionally caught or entangled in fishing gear annually as the fishing industry aims to satisfy consumer demand.

Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint, and avoids ingesting the many toxic chemicals found in the flesh of fish, including mercury, lead, and polychlorinated biphenyls. PETA offers a free vegan starter kit for those ready to make the switch.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.

Contact:

Lucy Watson +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

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