Hey, Fisherman’s Wharf: ‘I’m ME, Not MEAT,’ Proclaim Fish, Crab in New PETA Ads

Bus Ad Blitz Urges Diners to See All Animals as Someone and Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
July 24, 2018

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

With the busy summer season in full swing, PETA has placed ads on 25 buses and in seven subway stations near Fisherman’s Wharf—and numerous fish and seafood restaurants—that show a fish, a lobster, an octopus, or a crab next to the words “I’m ME, Not MEAT. See the Individual. Go Vegan.”

“Just like humans, fish, crabs, octopuses, and lobsters feel pain and fear, have unique personalities, and value their own lives,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA’s bus and subway-station ads are an appeal to passersby to spare these sensitive animals the agony of being boiled to death, eaten alive, or crushed to death in fishing nets simply by choosing vegan meals.”

A PETA investigation of a crustacean slaughterhouse revealed that live lobsters and crabs were impaled, torn apart, and decapitated—even as their legs continued to move. Chefs typically place live lobsters in pots of boiling water while they’re still conscious—a cruel practice that has just been banned in Switzerland—and some cut off live octopuses’ limbs and serve them still writhing to customers. And fish slowly suffocate or are crushed to death when they’re dragged from the oceans in huge nets, and the throats and stomachs of those who survive are cut open on the decks of fishing boats.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—offers a free vegan starter kit (available here) full of recipes, tips, and more. For more information, please visit PETA.org.