Eight Tentacles of Torture: The World’s First Octopus Factory Farm

NTS NEWS is excited to reveal the creation of a new charity to end animal cruelty - the CEAS (Coalition for Ethical Animal Standards). Today, we delve into the world’s first octopus torture farm.

Did you know? Octopuses are actually extremely intelligent creatures. They can navigate mazes; problem-solve when threatened; remember incidents for months and even take apart an advanced human-created lock. In fact, octopuses are one of the few creatures to be classified as sentient beings in the UK, meaning they have the ability to feel, perceive and be conscious.

Did you know? Despite these wonderful qualities that this intellectual, quick-thinking species possesses, over the past year the Spanish government has allowed a horrifying plan for an octopus torture farm to pass through.

It’s one thing to enjoy some octopus when on a tropical vacation, or perhaps now-and-then on special occasions, but what you’re about to witness through words is purely horrific.

The plan? To breed 1 MILLION live octopuses and stuff them into tiny, confined , overcrowded tanks.

Imagine something like what the image above shows, but on a much larger scale and with even smaller tanks, with freezing cold water.

These tanks will be filled to the brim with freezing-cold water, triggering these intelligent beings to slowly, gradually, painfully and agonisingly succumb to their deaths, just to be consumed by humans. And then this whole evil, menacing process repeats. Every. Single. Year.

This Spanish company has gone too far. Too. Far.

One of the many campaigns to end octopus farming in Spain (source: CIWF)

One of the very few counter-points to this malicious and unforgivable plan that values profit over the welfare of animals is that…sadly, this happens with many other animals globally. This includes chicken, pigs, cows, lambs and so many more. However, the variable that differs to many farms is that, whilst living conditions are horrific for all species being factory-bred, those animals are not in constant agony, unlike these octopuses.

Whilst unfortunately many farms operate illegally and disregard Animal Welfare Acts, the animals are at least slaughtered quickly and next-to-painlessly, which - whilst I personally still consider this horrendous behaviour and am considering the switch to vegetarianism - this is at least better than a never-ending life of suffering.

The reason why this octopus farm couldn’t operate like every other animal farm? Unsurprisingly (yet still heartbreakingly), it’s once more solely for more profit. The excuse the company has given is to “give as much flavour to the octopus meat” - the process only marginally improves flavour quality, so NTS NEWS considers this unnecessary torture for innocent animals.

In fact, these are just the few facts we know definitively about Nueva Pescanova’s (the project’s administrator) contemptible plan. The CIWF (Compassion In World Farming) has shared worrying reports of a high likelihood of the farm using ice slurry at early stages (crushed ice to further slow the death process and increase the pain and suffering), which is now under further investigation by the charity.

If this wasn’t enough, the torture farm will not just harm the poor octopuses, but also create a huge dent in the marine wildlife ecosystem. Since the octopuses will need some form of food to grow, Nueva Pescanova has stated the company’s farm will source crab, clams, snails and small fish from the wild to feed them. This will need to be done at a large scale and will exact a huge toll on the environment, leading potentially to many species becoming extinct in Spain.

Would you condemn 1 MILLION of these smart creatures who have the ability to think, to see, to feel, to remember to suffering, pain and agony?

When hundreds of thousands of people demanded change to this plan, the company responded with an even more morally wrong method: including “discards” from fish and other sea creatures in the octopuses diets, further worsening the health and wellbeing of the octopuses and even posing a threat to the consumers purchasing the meat.

After all of the pain, torture and agony these poor octopuses have had to endure…what if it was all for nothing and it poisoned their consumers?

Furthermore many environmentalists have shared worrying insights on unplanned side-effects that could take place. For instance, many tried-and-failed attempts of octopus farming in Mexico, Italy and Australia have shown us that there is “madness concerns” to take into account. This means that it is not possible to breed octopuses in captivity as they need huge oceans to roam and hunt in; small tanks will only lead to the octopuses killing each other in rage, frustration or even accident.

THE OUTCRY

In huge protest against this outrageous project that will bypass animal cruelty boundaries like never before, close to one million people have signed petitions and taken action against Pescanova. Many ethicists and animal activists, including Peter Singer (a significant wildlife activist), insist that the only way to spark a rebellion that will achieve something against the corporation is pure public outcry. Petitions, protests, organised marches, strikes for the octopuses, pressure on the government - if the population unites against this plan, there’s still hope.

On many Spanish streets, you can see thousands angrily demanding to halt the octopus farming operation immediately and suspend all further plans and projects like it

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THESE CREATURES, WHO CAN REMEMBER, WHO CAN SENSE, WHO CAN FEEL, WHO CAN PROBLEM-SOLVE AND CAN THINK SHOULD BE REMANDED TO A LIFE OF TORTURE, PAIN, AGONY AND SADNESS?

Why not sign a petition - just enter your name and email, no address required! - to take action against these cruel people once and for all?

Sign and Share This Petition:

Button not working? Copy-and-paste this link: https://action.eko.org/a/stop-the-world-s-first-octopus-farm-8a186328-b52e-489b-8b44-a3f4f24ab193?source=care2&currency=EUR

TAKE FURTHER ACTION:

We’re proud to partner with the CEAS (Coalition For Ethical Animal Standards) to share a portion of our profits to help protect and rescue animals worldwide. By making a donation to us, you can help end animal cruelty once and for all. 100% OF YOUR DONATION TRANSFERS DIRECTLY TO OUR SELECTED CHARITIES - This year, they’re Dogs Trust, Battersea Cats & Dogs and CIWF (Compassion In World Farming). These charities have been proven legitimate with zero signs of fraudulence or corruption, with extremely meticulous research conducted by us. To donate, just click the button below!

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Upcoming Articles

To leave you on the edge of your seat, we’ve decided to reveal the next article that will be coming out in January - the USA’s Space Force. You may know a good military force to include a navy, a land force and an air force - but now, the US focuses on conquering the world of space. Upgrade to paid to read this article in the future if you haven’t already!

OCTOPUS WATCH
Octopuses are one of the most intelligent creatures alive, and this article only scratches the surface of how cool these animals really are. A great documentary that explores the depths of the octopus world (literally) is My Octopus Teacher - you can find it on Netflix.

RESEARCH SOURCES: Food Empowerment Project, Plant Based News, New York Post, Avaaz, Viva! The Vegan Charity, UnHerd, NextShark, PacificLongboarder, Lady Freethinker, National Wildlife Federation, National Geographic, Britannica, Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Magazine, Animal Diversity Web, Hakai Magazine, Smithsonian Ocean, BBC, Science News, Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, Scientific American, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Eko, PETA, CIWF (Compassion In World Farming), the CEAS Research Database, Yahoo! News & ESA Journals