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Scottish actor Alan Cumming has written to a council in Scotland, urging it to drop plans for a local caviar farm – including a package of Cavi-art (vegan caviar).
Campaigners say the proposal submitted to Argyll and Bute Council, would ‘keep sturgeons confined in stressful, unnatural conditions before subjecting them to a cruel, bloody death’.
The facility would be the first of its kind in Scotland and only the second in the UK.
‘Inhumane’
Cumming wrote: “With an abundance of delicious, cruelty-free alternatives to caviar available, building a farm in order to breed and kill animals for a fleeting moment of taste is unjustifiable and inhumane.
“Many discerning gourmets, including the head chef of the BAFTA Awards dinner, have opted for vegan caviar – which tastes fantastic and doesn’t harm animals.
“I’ve enclosed some for you to try. I hope you’ll enjoy it and that you’ll agree that farming fish for caviar has no place in Scotland’s future.”
Petition
Animal rights charity PETA earlier delivered to the council a petition with more than 5,000 signatures urging it to reject the proposed facility.
A PETA spokesperson said: “While sturgeons in the wild live in open rivers and migrate vast distances upstream to breed, fish on commercial farms are confined to tanks, where many sustain physical injuries, such as damage to their tails, because of severe crowding.
“At the end of their miserable lives, they’re transferred to an ice bath, where their gills are cut and they’re left to bleed out – a slow, painful way to die.”
The petition also says the facility would likely have many negative effects on the local area, including increased traffic from goods vehicles and the obstruction of scenic views by new buildings. In addition, the generation of environmental pollutants such as ammonia could potentially have a detrimental impact on wildlife.
‘Considered’
Speaking about the caviar farm plans, a spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council told PBN: “An application has been received and is being considered.
“We are in receipt of the petition from PETA.”
