BRUNSWICK, MAINE – PETA is proposing a roadside memorial to honor a bunch of lobsters killed when a seafood distributor’s truck crashed last week in Maine.
The group sent a letter to the Maine Department of Transportation asking for permission to install a 5-foot tombstone for the deceased lobsters along a highway in Brunswick. CNN affiliate WGME is reporting, about 70 crates of lobsters overturned in the wreck and spilled into the roadway.
“It was something I’ve never seen before,” Brunswick police Detective William Moir told WGME. “Some lobsters were loose on the ground from being spilled over so we went to work to save the ones we could.”
The proposed memorial would reportedly display a picture of a lobster with the words, “In Memory of the lobsters who suffered and died at this spot, August 2018.” It would also include the phrase “Try Vegan.”
“Countless sensitive crustaceans experienced an agonizing death when this truck rolled over and their bodies came crashing down onto the highway,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a statement found on their website. “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.”
In that same release, PETA noted lobsters are considered intelligent and are often placed into pots of boiling water while still alive.
WGME said on Thursday that the Maine Department of Transportation turned down the request for a memorial because of safety concerns. The department added that all signs are banned along controlled access highways, including the one where the crash happened.
The department also stressed that a permanent memorial is not permissible under state law. In Maine, roadside memorials can only stay up for 12 weeks, and they can’t be taller than 4-feet.
CNN said requests for comment to PETA have not been answered at this time.
