Animal protection group say dead fish throwing is unacceptable, undignified and disrespectful

An animal protection organization in Switzerland has called on Zurich’s guild of fishermen to stop throwing dead fish in the streets as part of a traditional parade during the annual Sechseläuten festival.



Throwing fish during Sechseläuten, which marks the arrival of spring, is a custom that dates back a century. Members of the city’s 25 guilds, dressed in traditional costumes, parade through the streets of Zurich and aim their fishy missiles at balconies and windows, with the debris raining down on spectators.

The fish used are generally species that are not eaten and are usually used to produce fish meal. But the Zurich Association for the Protection of Animals officially objected to the custom in an open letter on Wednesday. The guild should find “an irreproachable ethical replacement” to the tradition, it said.



Treating animals – living or dead – in this manner is “unacceptable, undignified and disrespectful,” said the association. The group also directed its anger at Zurich authorities for allowing “the throwing of corpses”. It demanded that communal authorities forbid the practice from 2015. City police said they would consider the request.