by John M. Simpson.
Sometimes the target gets steamed and fires back. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights organization that is not generally known for shying away from publicity, may have recently met its match in Baltimore, Maryland. As reported, to promote its view that crabs, lobsters and other shellfish “feel pain and fear, have unique personalities, and value their own lives,” PETA purchased a billboard in August in proximity to several seafood restaurants in downtown Baltimore. The billboard bore the image of a Maryland blue crab with the statement, “I’m Me, Not Meat. See the Individual. Go vegan. PETA.”
One seafood establishment — Jimmy’s Famous Seafood — decided to fight back. The restaurant posted its own billboard showing a steamed and seasoned crab the with the statement:
“SteaMEd crabs. Here to stay. Get Famous.”
In response to PETA, Jimmy’s also took to social media, posting several messages on Twitter with the hashtag “#SteamThemAll,” pointing out, among other things, the high euthanization rate in PETA’s Norfolk, Virginia shelter at which, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, more than 38,000 dogs and cats have been put down since 1998. At one point in the ensuing stream of tweets (most of which were pro-steamed crab), it appeared that Jimmy’s may have decided to walk its statements back, but that was not to be:
“It’s come to our attention that we may’ve offended some with our recent tweets. We’ve spent a lot of time slaying everyone & started fights with everyone. We’ve ridiculed everyone. We’d just like to say from the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to take this chance to apologize . . .
TO ABSOLUTELY NOBODY!
#SteamThemAll”
This is not the only pushback that PETA ‘s shellfish/crustacean agenda has encountered this summer. In August, the Maine Department of Transportation turned down the organization’s request to erect a memorial to commemorate the death of 7,000 lobsters who apparently perished in a truck accident along Route 1 in Brunswick, Maine. The proposed memorial, a five-foot high granite tombstone, would have borne the inscription: “In Memory of the Lobsters Who Suffered and Died at This Spot. August 2018. Try Vegan. PETA.” The MDOT declined PETA’s request on grounds of traffic safety. PETA has declared, however, that it will seek another location for the memorial.