Lobsters Are People, Too!

Either the good folks at PETA are just looking for cheap headlines, or else somebody has been drinking sea water out of Casco Bay. What else would explain the proposed Lobster Empathy Center?

SKOWHEGAN, Maine - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has sent a proposal to the Somerset County commissioners to lease their jail for the world’s first Lobster Empathy Center.

The central Maine county is constructing a new jail and has put the century-old jail in downtown Skowhegan up for sale. The Realtor handling the sale called the offer "likely a publicity stunt."

"A prison is the perfect setting to demonstrate how lobsters suffer when they are caught in traps or confined to cramped, filthy supermarket tanks," PETA wrote in a June 2 letter to the commissioners. "The center will teach visitors to have compassion for these interesting, sensitive animals while also commemorating the millions of lobsters who are ripped from their homes in the ocean off the coast of Maine each year before being boiled alive."

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PETA said the center would include educational displays and "testimonials from top independent scientists confirming that lobsters feel pain just like other animals."

PETA said the center would feature interactive exhibits such as a human-size lobster trap where visitors can have their fingers wrapped in large rubber bands that will remain on for their entire visit.

"At that point, visitors can be moved to a small, filth-strewn glass tank where they will be crammed together and confined for up to an hour," the proposal states.

The center also would include a concession stand that would include faux lobster treats, and children would receive free stuffed toy lobsters labeled "Lobster Are Friends, Not Food."

"Mainers have been dragging lobsters from their ocean homes for generations," said PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "It’s time for them to learn that these fascinating animals deserve more than being treated as mere commodities."

Yips! to Chris Johnson at Midwestern Conservative Journal who dubs the proposed center "Dachau-On-The-Kennebec".

Me? I dunno. After reading the article I'm suddenly all hungry......

Oh, and as for being confined to a small, filth-strewn glass tank and crammed together for an hour? Heck, I do that every day. It's called riding the metro.