A couple weeks ago a truck carrying 7,000 pounds of lobsters up in Brunswick, Maine, crashed, causing the lobsters to empty out into the roadway and ultimately killed some of them when they were crushed as a result of the crash. Now PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) wants the state of Maine to allow them to place a memorial sign on the side of the road where those lobsters were tragically injured and some killed. They specifically want a 5 foot tombstone to mark the site and urge people to not eat seafood. PETA put out a markup of their proposed sign and it reads: "In Memory of the Lobsters Who Suffered and Died at This Spot-Try Vegan"
Maine's Department of Transportation is reviewing this request from PETA. According to Maine DOT's Ted Talbot, he says that memorials can only be placed near a road for up to 12 weeks and are limited in size by state law.
Whewwww...this is a bold move by PETA but isn't every move by PETA a bold statement or demonstration? Maine is all about their lobster festivals, eating, and tourism around lobsters so it's going to be very interesting to see if they support a sign on their state road that pushes the notion of not eating the very thing that draws people to their state; well one of the main things that Maine is highly known for. I personally an amused by the idea of what PETA is asking. I'm all for the sign. Now yes I'm a vegetarian and do NOT eat lobsters or any seafood for that matter but I'm not 100% behind their main reason for this sign. I have mixed reasons for wanting the sign. A lot of it for me while I don't find the killing of lobsters amusing, I find the drive and passion PETA has over this sign, to be amusing and for that reason alone I think the sign should go up. Then unlike VB who wants to memorialize all the lost lobsters that were never eaten and the tragedy it is, I don't mind the advocacy to not eat lobsters. Even when I wasn't a vegetarian, I didn't like eating lobsters because I always found it cruel to take a live lobster and just boil it alive. It always bothered me so I'm all for not eating lobsters and don't mind the push. This may be a little in your face seeing as how they quite literally want a tombstone but I think let them do it, I don't think it's offensive. Plus I think lobsters are spiders of the sea and to eat them is disturbing...put up the sign!
-Producer Lightning