Goldfish join security team for G20 summit

NeverSayGoodBye SG

In addition to thousands of heavily-armed police and troops, six goldfish will put their lives on the line to safeguard world leaders at this week's G20 summit in the South Korean capital.

The Convention and Exhibition Centre in southern Seoul which is hosting the event will use the fish to check the purity of the water supply to restrooms, an official said Tuesday.

"The fish also symbolise an eco-friendly water policy, which recycles used water for the restrooms," Oh Su-Young, PR manager at the centre, told AFP, adding that they were just part of the inspection process.

The centre, which shares its water supply with a neighbouring shopping mall and trade centre, recycles nearly 150,000 tons of water a year at an annual saving of 360 million won (322,436 dollars).

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Animal activists denounce G20 goldfish security

Animal rights activists criticized South Korea for placing goldfish in harm's way as part of elaborate security measures for the Group of 20 summit opening Thursday.

South Korean authorities said that, in addition to deploying thousands of armed police, they would use six goldfish which would be placed in the restrooms' water supply to ensure purity.

US-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) countered Wednesday that goldfish suffer pain in much the same way as dogs and cats.

"Protecting world leaders is very serious, but so is protecting animals who feel pain just as people do," said PETA's executive vice president, Tracy Reiman.

"There are a variety of modern scientific methods that would better protect world leaders and keep fish from enduring agonizing deaths from contaminated water," she wrote in a letter to South Korean authorities.

Oh Su-Young of the convention center earlier told AFP that the fish "symbolize an eco-friendly water policy" with used water recycled for the restrooms.