PETA and lobster killers throw party
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Last week, PETA assailed City Crab and Seafood in New York City for attempting to sell a 140-year-old, 20-pound lobster to customers for dinner:
This lobster lived in the ocean for over a century, and we think he deserves to spend the remainder of his life in peace in his natural habitat -- not in a pot of boiling water or a cramped, dirty tank.
The posting on PETA’s website goes on to explain why the group believes cooking lobsters is just plain wrong:
Because of the lobster’s sophisticated nervous system and high sensitivity to pain, boiling lobsters alive is completely illegal in some cities, such as Reggio, Italy (where offenders face a $600 fine!). But, unfortunately, more than 20 million lobsters are killed and eaten every year in the U.S. alone.
Even if City Crab takes the lobster off the menu, by keeping him in captivity they are likely sentencing him to death. Because lobsters are sensitive to water quality, they easily die if too much waste is created in their environment. In order to prevent the lobsters’ excrement from contaminating the tank water with ammonia, merchants normally do not feed lobsters, so the animals often starve or are reduced to attacking each other.
Upon learning of the super-centenarian lobster’s imminent death, PETA fired off a heated letter to the restaurant demanding the animal’s immediate release.
Three days later, the restaurant holding the lobster hostage acquiesced and agreed to set it free.
PETA praised the action:
... the good folks at City Crab have had a change of heart and have agreed to send the lucky lobster back home -- i.e., into the sea. (Yay!)
A huge ‘thank you’ goes out to City Crab for this compassionate decision.
To celebrate the momentous occasion, PETA decided to team up with the crustacean-killing restaurant to throw a party:
City Crab and PETA are hosting a bon voyage event to see off the lobster, who will be sent back to a watery habitat in style. Pretty exciting if you ask me! Next step: ban catching lobsters completely. Lobsters don’t deserve to be pulled from their ocean home and kept in tiny tanks in their own waste and then boiled alive.
By teaming up for a bon voyage party, isn’t PETA endorsing the continued inhumane treatment of lobsters? Although one lucky lobster is set free, how many will boil back at City Crab and Seafood?
I can only imagine what the appetizers at the party will be.
--Graham McCann