PETA to Host a Local … Fishing Event?

For Immediate Release:
April 9, 2021

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

Tomorrow, PETA supporters will gather at Garfield Lake Park for a new “trash fishing” initiative, inspired by the father-and-son duo who decided to tackle trash—from tires to tin cans—in Michigan’s Detroit River. PETA along with Canada Geese Protection Colorado (CGPC) will supply attendees with eco-friendly gloves, compostable trash bags, and vegan snacks like Swedish Fish candy.

When:    Saturday, April 10, 11 a.m.

Where:    Garfield Lake Park, 3600 W. Mississippi Ave. (at the intersection of S. Newton Street and W. Arizona Avenue.), Denver

“PETA’s ‘trash fishing’ initiative is a fun way to enjoy nature, reduce pollution, and protect marine life in all its fascinating forms,” says PETA Director of Campaigns Danielle Katz. “No one would hook a dog or a cat through the mouth, and fish should be no different.”

PETA notes that traditional fishing is a cruel practice of hooking gentle animals through their sensitive mouths, watching them slowly suffocate, and sometimes even gutting them while they’re still alive. Even though they’re now known to feel pain as acutely as mammals do, more fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined. And fishing doesn’t just hurt fish—every year, millions of birds, turtles, and other animals sustain debilitating injuries after swallowing hooks or becoming entangled in fishing line. Wildlife rehabilitators say that discarded tackle is one of the greatest threats to aquatic animals.

CGPC—which was founded in 2019 by concerned residents after 1,662 geese were rounded up from local parks and killed—will also be holding additional trash fishing events at area lakes in the coming weeks.

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 or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.