Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society Nets $10,000 Offer From PETA—With a Good Catch!

For Immediate Release:
August 23, 2024

Contact:
Maddy Missett 202-483-7382

Aware of a fundraising campaign to save the 150-year-old Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, which may soon collapse unless it’s renovated, PETA sent a letter today to Kristin Gamble, president of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society and capital campaign co-chair of the Restoration Committee, offering to pledge $10,000 for its upkeep once the restoration is complete—providedthat the lighthouse agrees to host a permanent exhibit encouraging empathy for fish upon reopening. The exhibit, which PETA has offered to help install, would feature interactive educational displays full of facts about the amazing capabilities and complex emotional lives of fish—as well as why they should never be eaten or tormented for “sport”—and would occasionally host the group’s traveling Fish Empathy Quilt.

The first-of-its-kind Fish Empathy Quilt features more than 100 unique squares contributed by individuals around the globe—including New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss, a Rochester native, and French oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau. At the exhibit’s opening, PETA would be happy to tide over attendees with delicious vegan faux-fish nosh, such as Gardein’s f’ish filets. Visitors could take pictures with PETA’s crowd-pleasing Freeda Fish mascot, and children would receive adorable plush toys with the tagline “Fish are friends, not food!”

“Fish are intelligent, playful animals with long-term memories and even their own cultural traditions, yet billions of these thinking, feeling individuals are killed each year in the fishing industry,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is eager to help shore up this historic lighthouse and shine a light on these smart, social animals with this fintasticwin-win offer.”

Each person who goes vegan spares the lives of nearly 200 animals—including aquatic ones—every year. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Gamble follows.

August 23, 2024

Kristin Gamble

President, Capital Campaign Co-Chair, Restoration Committee

Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society

Dear Ms. Gamble:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters worldwide, including hundreds of thousands in New York—amid fundraising efforts dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse. PETA would pledge to donate $10,000 to the lighthouse to assist with maintenance costs if you’ll agree to add a permanent fish empathy exhibit inside the lighthouse once the repairs are complete.

Visitors to this beautiful historic landmark would learn that fish are sensitive animals with individual personalities who feel pain and fear just as dogs and cats do. Fish communicate with each other, show affection by gently rubbing against one another, and are extremely resourceful and intelligent. But sadly, trillions of them have been needlessly killed at a devastating cost to the environment, even though eating animals is totally unhealthy and unnecessary and delicious, healthy vegan versions of seafood are readily available and free of both cruelty and cholesterol.

If you agree to add a fish empathy exhibit to the indoor spaces, we’d help install interactive educational displays to allow the public to learn facts about fish and why they should never be eaten or tormented for “sport,” alongside images of marine life who have been needlessly trapped by and unintentionally killed in fishing lines as “bycatch.” PETA could loan you our Fish Empathy Quilt, a vibrant, creative depiction of marine life that features more than 100 unique quilt squares contributed by people from all over the world, and guests could take pictures with a Freeda Fish costumed mascot. All children who visit would receive a plush toy with the tagline “Fish are friends, not food!” We’d gladly offer vegan faux-fish sticks on opening day to celebrate the new exhibit.

Many experts and scientists warn that there could be no more fish or other sea animals left by the year 2050—worldwide, over a thousand species of fish are currently at risk of extinction, caused primarily by the commercial fishing industry. For 150 years, the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse has served as a guiding light, and we can’t think of a better way to keep its legacy alive than to use it to help protect vulnerable animals and raise awareness of this dire issue.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President