OCEAN CITY, Md. - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is offering up to $5,000 for information on five men who were caught on camera abusing koi fish in a private pond in early July.
According to police, men climbed over a fence to reach into a pond around 2:45 a.m. on July 1. Video shows them using a shovel in the pond, slamming at least one fish to the ground, recording themselves with cell phones, and more.
"Fish feel pain and fear just as cats, dogs and these young misfits do, yet the men laughed as they tormented these animals who were slowly suffocating in their hands," said Colleen O'Brien, PETA senior vice president.
Two of the men are described by police as Hispanic with black hair, one as Hispanic with brown hair, one as white with light brown hair, and another as white with a black baseball hat and carrying a shovel.
PETA has recently also been outspoken about a truck full of chickens that caught on fire last week on Route 50, saying that everyone who isn't vegan is responsible for their deaths.