BRUNSWICK, Maine — PETA wants to build a 5-foot tombstone where lobsters may have died after a crash on Route 1 in Brunswick last week.
The organization sent a letter to the Maine DOT asking if it could create the roadside memorial.
According to the Brunswick Police Department several of the crustaceans that a Cozy Harbor Seafood truck was carrying got crushed as a result of the rollover.
“It was something I’ve never seen before,” said Detective William Moir of the Brunswick Police Department. “Some lobsters were loose on the ground from being spilled over so we went to work to save the ones we could.”
“Countless sensitive crustaceans experienced an agonizing death when this truck rolled over and their bodies came crashing down onto the highway,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said. “PETA hopes to pay tribute to these individuals who didn’t want to die with a memorial urging people to help prevent future suffering by keeping lobsters and all other animals off their plates.”
Some Mainers say lobsters belong on their dinner table and they don’t agree with a memorial.
“I’m not cruel to animals but that goes way to far and a monument on the highway? We don’t even put monuments up for people who die,” said Janie Roy. “What’s the difference between them falling on the road and dying or being thrown in [boiling] hot water? We eat them every single day. Either way they’re dead lobsters.”
This is not the first time PETA has advocated for lobsters, previously purchasing advertising space at the Portland International Jetport to urge visitors not to eat the crustaceans, and placing topless women in lobster costumes outside the annual Maine Lobster Festival to attract attention.
It is not known yet whether the Maine DOT will honor the latest request.
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