The Pearl Hotel Ends Betta Fish Displays After PETA Appeal

For Immediate Release:
February 22, 2021

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA and more than 80,000 of the group’s members and supporters, The Pearl Hotel has stopped displaying betta fish in cramped bowls in its rooms. In thanks, PETA is sending the hotel a box of delicious vegan fish-shaped chocolates.

“The Pearl Hotel did the right thing by recognizing that even tiny fish have an interest in enjoying their life,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA thanks the hotel for showing goodwill to everyone and urges people not to buy fish as ‘pets.’”

Prior to its compassionate decision, The Pearl Hotel was the last stop for betta fish who, it has been well documented, endure a grueling and often deadly journey to the U.S. from Thailand. A PETA Asia investigation into the betta fish industry revealed fish gasping for air on waterless trays as workers roughly sorted them for shipping. Some, who had suffocated, were left rotting on the floor, and others were found floating motionless in tanks of filthy water. Bettas are typically packed without food and left to starve for days during international transport.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.