Teacher and Students Choose Not to Eat Pablo the Class Fish, Hold Fish-Free Luncheon

TeachKind Doles Out Tasty Vegan Fare, Humane Education for Seventh- and Eighth-Graders

For Immediate Release:
June 24, 2015

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

After hearing that a group of seventh- and eighth-graders at Ella Baker School were considering grilling and eating Pablo, the companion fish they had raised, TeachKind—PETA’s humane-education division—was quick to reach out to the students and their teacher with a win-win proposition: a meat-free celebratory lunch, courtesy of TeachKind, if they agreed to leave Pablo off their plates. The students’ teacher agreed, and with TeachKind’s help, the class will chow down on tasty fish-free fillets with vegan tartar sauce. A TeachKind staffer also Skyped with the class to discuss the ethics of eating Pablo and other animals.

“Fish are smart and social animals, and children naturally grow attached to them as they would to any other animal companion,” says PETA Director of Youth Outreach and Campaigns Marta Holmberg. “PETA hopes this thoughtful decision will inspire other schools to give animals in the classroom a reprieve.”

As TeachKind—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out, fish are complex beings who have personalities, communicate, and even form bonds with each other. There’s overwhelming scientific evidence that fish feel pain and suffer immensely when they’re dragged from the sea in nets or impaled on hooks.

For more information, please visit TeachKind.org.