Video shows the actor struggling to breathe underwater

Feb 14, 2013 19:41 GMT  ·  By

Actor Joaquin Phoenix must hold animals (fish in particular) very close at heart, otherwise there is no reasonable explanation for his agreeing to star in this video.

Those of you who happen to know a thing or two about green-oriented group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) might have already guessed that the animal rights activists working with said organization are the ones responsible for this footage.

The idea they are struggling to convey is as follows: as long as humans dread the idea of not being able to breathe when underwater, how can it be OK to subject fish to the torture of being taken out of their natural environment just so that they can be turned into somebody's lunch or dinner?

“Fish don't want to suffocate on land any more than we want to drown in water,” PETA and Joaquin Phoenix claim.