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30th April 2023
10:56am BST
A PETA advert put up in an English seaside town has been criticised for suggesting that eating cats is the same as eating fish.
The digital advert, which was placed outside a fish and chip shop in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, by the nonprofit animal rights group, shows a woman dressed as a fishmonger holding a fish which then turns into a dead cat.
Underneath the image are the words: "Sea things in a different light. Respect all life. Go vegan."
One local told the BBC that they though the billboard was a "bit sick."
"It's a cat. You don't eat a cat," he added.
Another said it was "horrible" and "distressing."
And a third said they advert had actually "reminded" him he was "having fish and chips today."
The advert went viral after it caught the attention of a certain resident at Downing Street - Larry the Cat.
'Larry' tweeted: "As a cat who eats fish I'm confused."
Responding to the tweet, another Twitter user said: "I'm speechless, respect for every animal is right, for example I'm a vegetarian, but I find this advertisement horrible and in bad taste... surely it could have been done better!!"
Jennifer White, from PETA - which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - said the poster "aims to remind people that all animals deserve protection", pointing out that the fishing industry is the "biggest killer of animals on the planet".
"We really want to get people thinking about how fish have the exact same capacity to feel pain and suffer as a cat and a dog would," she said.
She said that the debate over the poster "comes down to speciesism, which is the misguided belief that some species are more important than others — and this is how humans justify mistreating animals."
In a statement, Peta said: "Fish share knowledge and have long memories as well as cultural traditions."
But Mike Cohen from the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations slammed the advert as "highly misleading," and labelled it "silly misinformation."
He said: "The people of the UK have enjoyed eating fish for thousands of years.
"To suggest that fish feel pain in the same way as mammals is, at best, highly misleading."
He added: "Seafood is a healthy, delicious, affordable, and low-carbon part of their diet for the vast majority of people in this country and well managed fisheries provide sustainable jobs in communities all around our coast.
"Perhaps it would be best to leave people alone to make their own choices, without putting silly misinformation on posters."
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