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April 4, 2007
Free The Lobsters!
My friend Gordon was in town last week from Portland, so we decided to meet up somewhere near my house and grab a beer. I picked a local sports bar that I hadn't been to in a while since I knew it would be a pretty quiet place to play some pool and catch up (no big games going on that night).
As we walked back to the pool table, you can imagine my astonishment when I saw THIS:
THIS is a claw machine (normally designed to snatch up crappy little stuffed animals) designed for snatching up LIVE LOBSTERS. If you catch one, the kitchen will cook it for you.
My friend's first comment was "If there was one of these things in Portland, it would take about 5 minutes for someone to douse this in a bucket of pig's blood." Yet, here in Newtown it is apparently considered completely acceptable and good, clean fun.
I am pissed.
What's next? A claw machine full of puppies? How about an adoption machine? You could just fill the tanks with babies - that's sure to drive up revenue at your local tavern.
Mind you, I eat lobster once or twice a year. I like it. They are tasty. But, I do make a point of only eating them when I am in Maine and know they have not been trapped in a tank of their own filth for 6 months before I dig in. There is such a thing as ethical treatment of animals and a claw based death machine ain't it.
Has anyone seen these anywhere else? I am writing to PETA and my local humane society. I urge you all to do the same. Of course, I am tempted to either take a sledgehammer to it (Gordon's idea) or take a trip to the local butcher for a bucket of the red stuff - but, diplomacy first. Deep breath, then diplomacy.
Am I alone in my outrage?
Ugh.
ps - I am particularly disgusted by the smiling cartoon lobster holding a cute little heart in the death machine's logo.
Posted by Sarah at April 4, 2007 12:33 PM
Posted to getting SNIPPY
Comments
EW EW EWWWWW! that is awful and just plain sad!
Posted by: amanda at April 4, 2007 1:48 PM
Are you generally outraged by lobsters in any tank? Like when you go in to the grocery store? People do eat those lobsters...I guess I'm failing to see what is so outrageous.
Posted by: anna at April 4, 2007 1:55 PM
I actually am upset by lobsters in tanks at most grocery stores. Most of those lobsters have been sitting water filled crates in warehouses for many, many months before reaching that destination. I don't think it's an ethical way to treat animals, even if you are going to eat them.
Many chains, including Whole Foods, no longer carry live lobsters because of this. It's why I only eat lobster when I'm in Maine, when I know the little guys have only recently been caught.
As far as the claw machine goes - I think there is a big difference between keeping a lobster in a tank and using a big plastic claw to pick the live animal up and drop it over and over again in an attempt to win a game. I personally don't think any living thing should be toyed with for our enjoyment. It's an animal. Not an item.
Just my personal opinion...
Posted by: Sarah at April 4, 2007 5:52 PM