British shark protester suspended from ceiling by hooks

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — A British woman was suspended from the ceiling of a London shop by hooks put through her skin, in protest Wednesday against the practice of slicing fins from sharks and throwing them back into the ocean alive.

Spectators gasped as blood trickled down the back of 26-year-old performance artist Alice Newstead, but she insisted it did not hurt.

"I am doing this because the demand for shark fin soup and other shark products is wiping out the shark population," said Newstead, who used to work in the Lush cosmetics store in the capital's upmarket Regent Street.

"I have had my torso, legs, arms, stomach and knees pierced before so that I could hang from them, so this is no big deal.

"Being hung from the chest is more painful than the back...