If you wouldn’t eat a cat, why eat a fish? That’s the food for thought PETA supporters served up ahead of World Day for the End of Speciesism.

A PETA “catmonger” set up shop at Manly Corso, serving mock kitten fillets on trays of ice for $10 a kilo, and “whole kitten specials” for $15 per kilo to encourage passers-by to see fish as intelligent, feeling individuals and opt for vegan food instead. This “Stop Speciesism” stall was part of PETA’s efforts to challenge the prejudiced notion that the differences between humans and other animals warrant torturing, killing, and eating members of other species.

Disturbed by the idea of deep-frying a kitten or having a freshly caught Siamese and chips for lunch? Extend that compassion to all animals and, please, go vegan.

When it comes to being playful, inquisitive, and sensitive to pain, fish are no different from the cats who share our homes. They exchange knowledge and have long memories and cultural traditions.

More fish are killed for food each year than all other animals combined – they’re impaled, crushed, suffocated, or cut open and gutted by the billion, often while they’re still conscious.

In addition, 38 million tonnes of other aquatic animals are unintentionally killed annually by the fishing industry, known as “bycatch”, to satisfy consumer demand. This suffering stems from speciesism.

It’s speciesist to believe that the differences between humans and other animals are enough to warrant torturing and killing those we don’t relate to. It’s speciesist to think that we are superior and are therefore somehow justified in raping, caging, and mutilating animals who don’t look exactly like us. It’s speciesist to exploit others because we don’t understand them fully or at all, to assume that they’re not as intelligent as we are when we measure their intelligence in human terms, and to dismiss their suffering because it benefits us.

Please, leave animals off your plate, whether they have feathers, fur, or fins.