People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is planning to protest the Maine Lobster Festival, taking place 29 July in Rockland, Maine, U.S.A.
The protest is intended as a public objection to the steaming of around 16,000 live lobsters while encouraging attendees to explore veganism.
“The Maine Lobster Festival celebrates the torment and massacre of thousands of sentient animals, who feel pain as keenly as any dog, cat, or child,” PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk said. “No meal is worth such cruelty, and PETA urges everyone to show compassion to all sea life by going vegan.”
PETA argues that lobsters can recognize other individual lobsters, carry babies for nine months, and can live over 100 years. The welfare organization also argued that the boiling alive of lobsters is inhumane, due to the organism's complex nervous system and pain receptors.
Last year, the organization sued the Maine Lobster Festival and the city of Rockland, arguing that the event was a public nuisance and that the steaming of live lobsters on public property should be banned. A judge dismissed the lawsuit on 26 January, saying the lawsuit did not meet the grounds of "public nuisance."
"Because the complaint fails to allege facts sufficient to establish the special injury requirement of a public nuisance claim, the court need not address the arguments about whether live lobster steaming constitutes a nuisance," Judge Patrick Larson stated in his ruling.
PETA has long protested similar food-based events nationally, drawing mixed reactions from the seafood industry.
