World’s First Fish Empathy Quilt Now on Display at City Hall in California

For Immediate Release:
November 8, 2023

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

A recent special delivery from PETA was met with applause in the Golden State. Following positive communication between the group and Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel about promoting compassion toward fish, PETA members attended the city council meeting yesterday and presented residents with the world’s first Fish Empathy Quilt, along with a warmly received message about the importance of leaving aquatic animals off our plates and in the ocean, where they belong. Local residents thanked PETA for being there and took photos with the enormous quilt panels. Three panels of the quilt will be displayed next to the doors of the council chambers for an entire month. A video of the city council meeting is available here. PETA’s presentation begins at 19:07.

PETA Director Ashley Byrne is pictured with panels of the Fish Empathy Quilt at Eureka City Hall.

“Fish are intelligent, empathetic, and playful beings who deserve the same consideration and compassion as humans, dogs, and every other animal,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA encourages everyone to follow Eureka’s lead, spare a thought for the billions of aquatic animals killed each year in the fishing industry, and tip the scales toward humane vegan meals.”

The quilt measures more than 300 square feet and is composed of more than 100 unique, handcrafted squares from PETA members and supporters, including cartoonist Harry Bliss and oceanographic explorer and film producer Jean-Michel Cousteau.

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