’Secret Life’ Star Urges Fans to Get Hooked on Kindness and Go Vegan

Renee Olstead Appears in New peta2 Ad Promoting Empathy for Fish

Los Angeles -- Hugging peta2 mascot Tiffany Tuna next to the caption “Fish Are Friends, Not Food,” singer and star of The Secret Life of the American Teenager Renee Olstead is featured in a brand-new ad for peta2, PETA’s youth division. The ad (available here - http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/igc/renee-olstead-1.jpg) goes on to say, “Stand up for all animals and go vegan today.” Her point? That even many people who have reservations about eating land animals often swallow the myth that fish don’t feel pain or possess intelligence, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Olstead—a big peta2 fan who stopped eating meat at age 12 and went vegan a year ago—also sat down for an exclusive peta2 interview and talked about why she won’t eat fish.

“I’m often asked, ’Do you want to get sushi?’ … Fish aren’t vegetables,” says Olstead, who points out that delicious vegan options are available nearly everywhere these days. “Fish that are killed for food die the same way any other animal would for food, so there really is no difference between a cow or a fish or a chicken—it’s all suffering. And why would you want to eat suffering?”

The experts back Olstead up. Scientific studies show that fish are intelligent, sensitive animals who experience pain and fear when they are hooked or netted and pulled from the water. The scientific journal Fish and Fisheries cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence that prove that fish are smart, can use tools, and have impressive long-term memories and sophisticated social structures. Fish have even been observed talking to each other in low-frequency sounds that humans can hear only with the aid of special instruments.

Justin Bieber, Cody Simpson, Megan Park, Christian Serratos, Angela Simmons, and Kellan Lutz are just a few of the other celebrities who have teamed up with peta2 to fight animal abuse.

For more information, please visit peta2.com