The world is on the brink of an animal welfare disaster. Confidential documents have revealed plans to build the world's first octopus farm in Spain's Canary Islands, with an alarming capacity to raise and kill about a million octopuses annually for food​​. It's been called "a symbol of what humans shouldn't be doing."

Octopuses are solitary animals used to the dark, yet under these plans, they would be kept in communal tanks, sometimes under constant light. They would be killed by being placed in containers of water kept at freezing temperatures, a method described as "cruel" by scientists​​.

The proposed development of the world's first octopus farm by the company Nueva Pescanova, as it emerges from bankruptcy, underscores the company's susceptibility to market forces and consumer demand. And that's how, together, we can stop it. By targeting the market for farmed octopuses, we can exert significant economic pressure that could potentially halt the development of this farm and discourage others from attempting similar ventures.

If the sale and import of products derived from farmed octopuses are banned, it would effectively kill the market for such products. Without a market, the financial incentive to farm octopuses disappears.

Governments play a critical role in this. By banning the import of products from octopus farms, they can help to wipe out this burgeoning industry at its inception. This is not just a measure to stop one farm, but to set a precedent that protects octopuses and deters any future attempts to farm these intelligent, sentient beings.

And if we fail to act in this moment: we could be on the precipice of a slippery slope to octopus torture farms across the globe. We must act now, before it's too late.

This is an urgent call to action: to save octopuses, we must starve the market, and our governments must lead the way. Will you join us?