Quote :

"PETA proposes Lobster Empathy Center for Skowhegan jail 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." Commissioner Chairman Phil Roy, who doesn’t care for lobster, was at a loss for words Monday afternoon. "I’m shocked and I don’t know what to say. I didn’t realize Skowhegan was the coastal community PETA was looking for," Roy said, with tongue in cheek. As the crow flies, the distance from Skowhegan to Rockland, home of the Maine Lobster Festival and a lobster fishing port, is approximately 53 miles. "The lobster capital of the state of Maine certainly isn’t here," Roy said. He said it was odd that PETA would object to the jail conditions for lobsters but had never filed a complaint on behalf of the human inmates incarcerated there. 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." Roy said that even if the offer is a publicity stunt and a waste of the commissioners’ time, it would be treated the same as any other and has been forwarded to the Realtor handling the jail’s sale. Amy McLellan of Dawson Commercial Realty said all offers would be considered although the county has no interest in leasing the jail. "The property needs to be sold," she said. "Leasing is not an option, but we will look at everything. However, our big thing is not so much the price as the use. The county wants to provide jobs and get the property back on the tax rolls." McLellan said there is extraordinary interest in the jail. "We are currently working on 22 leads," she said. One recent offer was made by entrepreneur Amber Lambke of Skowhegan, who has proposed purchasing the jail for a gristmill, artists colony, bakery and other cultural uses."

http://bangornews.com/news/t/midmaine.aspx?articleid=165128&zoneid=182

And they wonder why I haven't joined...

6/3/2008 5:09:43 PM

you know, i like PETA

every now and then, we get bomb threats that give me a paid half-day

6/3/2008 5:11:11 PM

PETA proposes Lobster Empathy Center for Skowhegan jail are fucking crazy

6/3/2008 5:12:39 PM

They better have those Red Lobster cheese biscuits.

6/3/2008 5:13:19 PM

haha, sounds like an awesomely fun tour.


Do they seriously expect to actually convert anyone to their point of view with these tours? Seems like the only people who would subject themselves to these things willingly are PETA members already.

6/3/2008 5:14:26 PM

Nutjob dipshit assholes.

6/3/2008 5:14:59 PM

People
Eating
Tasty
Animals

6/3/2008 5:17:24 PM

you know they might get a lot farther if they actually made intelligent arguments to support their cause instead of stupid shit like this

6/3/2008 5:19:02 PM

wasn't there some episode of Murphy Brown that had Mary Tyler Moore being an advocate for lobster rights or something? Maybe I am making that up.



[Edited on June 3, 2008 at 5:20 PM. Reason : k]

6/3/2008 5:19:13 PM

I wouldn't go. I don't need to be more upset about animals being eaten.

6/3/2008 5:20:46 PM

6/3/2008 5:21:58 PM

I don't like PETA. They KILL animals as well.

6/3/2008 5:28:43 PM

Quote :

"One recent offer was made by entrepreneur Amber Lambke of Skowhegan, who has proposed purchasing the jail for a gristmill, artists colony, bakery and other cultural uses.""

That'd be pretty sweet.

6/3/2008 5:48:15 PM

That would be a hell of a lot sweeter than a piss-on-humanity "empathy center".

PETA must survive off of clueless people. I don't know anybody with half a mind that would support their efforts.

6/3/2008 5:50:33 PM

http://kitsunenoir.com/blog/2008/06/02/concepts-x-nike-sb-lobster-dunk-low/

6/3/2008 5:51:36 PM

Quote :

"I don't need to be more upset about animals being eaten. "

what's so bad about eating animals?

i mean, that's how the food chain works.

6/3/2008 6:29:26 PM

Quote :

"you know they might get a lot farther if they actually made intelligent arguments to support their cause instead of stupid shit like this"

I know right.

I mean, they have a good cause, they believe in it and it's, at the very least, defensible. But stupid shit like this is the easiest way to TORPEDO any credibility they can even hope to attain for the foreseeable future.

I agree with some of the things they stand for (not all), but as someone who works in PR, I want to punch the whole group in the collective face for shooting themselves in the foot with seemingly every single thing they do.

6/3/2008 6:29:31 PM

Their whole "We should outlaw pets" thing is a bit of a deal breaker.

Also veal is delicious.

6/3/2008 6:53:33 PM

the #1 stunner



[Edited on June 3, 2008 at 7:12 PM. Reason : ]

6/3/2008 7:10:03 PM

zoidberg?

6/3/2008 7:11:25 PM

Lobster is bangin. Best seafood in my opinion.

6/3/2008 7:18:20 PM

Quote :

"I don't need to be more upset about animals being eaten."

were you really in animal sci and poultry sci? Really?

to everyone else, lets eat lobsters and other critters!

6/3/2008 7:56:55 PM

I would be tempted to open a discount lobster restaurant next door and see which does better.

6/3/2008 8:33:52 PM

lobsters are giant roaches.

PETA needs to focus on animals that actually have feelings and are treated poorly rather than gigantic sea bugs.

6/3/2008 8:53:38 PM

they need to concentrate on not catching aids

6/3/2008 8:57:19 PM

Lobsters are delicious

6/3/2008 8:59:24 PM

Quote :

"PETA needs to focus on animals that actually have feelings and are treated poorly rather than gigantic sea bugs."

I'd argue that lobsters, like any other creature has feelings, but they, like many other animals, are part of the food chain (food web, really), and thats what happens.
PETA should just give up.

6/3/2008 8:59:27 PM

Quote :

"Their whole "We should outlaw pets" thing is a bit of a deal breaker. "

PETA =

6/3/2008 9:49:02 PM

Quote :

" People Eating Tastey Animals "

6/3/2008 9:59:32 PM

I don't know about this food chain argument. Things have changed since our days as hunter-gatherers. In any case, isn't it simply an appeal to precedent?

6/3/2008 10:05:33 PM

^^ Glad to see that you get spelling lessons from the Black Eyed Peas.

6/3/2008 10:07:37 PM

^^ No, it's an appeal to animals are damn good, and we like eating them.

[Edited on June 3, 2008 at 10:08 PM. Reason : ]

6/3/2008 10:08:15 PM

Quote :

"zoidberg?"

WOOOOPwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoop!

6/3/2008 10:11:36 PM

"Meat tastes like murder and murder tastes pretty goddamn good"

-Dennis Leary

6/3/2008 11:14:50 PM

Quote :

"Ripped from their homes..."

Now just wait a minute... It was their own dumb fault they climbed in the cage.

6/4/2008 12:10:04 AM

Quote :

"I'd argue that lobsters, like any other creature has feelings, but they, like many other animals, are part of the food chain (food web, really), and thats what happens. PETA should just give up."

I'd argue that their brains are too tiny and undeveloped to have "feelings." I'm sure they can feel pain (they do have a nervous system of sorts), but as far as feeling happy or sad... I'm gonna go with not a fucking chance.

6/4/2008 12:14:46 AM

Aren't we actually aiding the advancement of their species by killing off the ones stupid enough to get in the cage?

6/4/2008 12:16:55 AM

One could argue that if they weren't all stupid enough to crawl in the cage. If it wasn't for fishing regulations they would probably be extinct already.

6/4/2008 12:17:55 AM

plus they dont get 'boiled alive' anymore anyway - chefs cleve them down the back killing them instantly before tossing them in the pot

6/4/2008 12:18:58 AM

*CARL FACE*

PETA makes me mangry.

6/4/2008 12:48:47 AM

I DONT THINK THEY DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

6/4/2008 1:19:53 AM

Quote :

"plus they dont get 'boiled alive' anymore anyway - chefs cleve them down the back killing them instantly before tossing them in the pot"

QFT

6/4/2008 1:29:42 AM

HAHAHAHHA

lobster. not furry. not cute. yes delicious.

6/4/2008 3:11:13 AM

Eh, I don't like seafood all that much. People go crazy over lobster & crab.

6/4/2008 3:13:40 AM

Newkirk is insane.

For some god unknown reason I get spam mail from PETA's Asian office. You wouldn't believe some of the dumbass shit they're trying to pull off in Asia. They seem to forget that people here don't care about dogs much less a tasty chicken.

6/4/2008 6:24:12 AM

okay so the lobster is kind of like the cockroach or the grasshopper

I'm not certain that they feel pain exactly

also, if we're eating them then it is hardly senseless violence

plus lobsters shouldn't be boiled alive
they should either have their "brain" cut in half (killing them instantly) or they should be anesthetized with cold before being steamed or boiled (which kills them within 10 seconds)

6/4/2008 8:07:58 AM

the cockroach of the sea

6/4/2008 8:10:58 AM

the delicious cockroach of the sea

6/4/2008 9:12:09 AM

6/4/2008 9:15:12 AM

What fucking bullshit. This is just yet another reason why PETA supporters shouldn't breed.

I go lobster fishing in they Keys every year, and as a marine biologist, I like to think I'm aware of the animal and its habitat. To put things in perspective for y'all, MILLIONS of lobster are caught in the Keys every year. Around 600,000 undersized lobster die every year just from being mishandled. AND THE POPULATION ALWAYS RECOVERS.

Granted, Maine lobster are genetically and morphologically different than Caribbean spiny lobster, but the basics are the same. they have a very poorly developed nervous system outside of that which is used to detect predators.

And the only time I have ever had a lobster exhibit any behavior that even remotely resembled pain was the grunting noise they make as you rip their tails off and toss them on the grill

6/4/2008 9:18:09 AM