PETA Outraged Over Octopus Dish



(Flushing, New York) The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has accused two restaurants in Flushing of serving octopus that is still alive and they have demanded that animal cruelty charges be filed by the Queens District Attorney.

The restaurants, Sik Gaek and East Seafood Restaurant, serve fresh octopus in a dish called sannakji.

The tentacles of the nakji, a small octopus native to Korean and Chinese waters, are chopped up and served with garlic and jalapeño peppers, while behaving like an immortal instead of a morsel.

The tentacles writhe on the plate, their suction cups latching on to chopsticks, fingers, or in the case of the colleague who joined me for dinner, the roof of one's mouth. […]

The manager of Sik Gaek said the octopus, which live in a medium-sized fish tank inside the restaurant, is killed instantly by having its head split open and its brain removed. The octopus is then immediately chopped up and served to a customer.

So far, there's no indication as to how the district attorney or PETA are going to proceed on the issue.