skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Sunday, November 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump team barred from agencies amid legal standoff; Health experts speak out against RFK Jr. leading Health and Human Services; ACLU: Mass deportations would be setback for AR economy; Researchers study CT's offshore wind possibilities.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President-elect Trump's new pick for Attorney General vows retribution at Justice Department, the Trump transition is refusing to allow FBI Cabinet nominee background checks, and Republicans begin the process to defund Planned Parenthood.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The health of rural Americans is getting renewed attention from the CDC, updated data could help protect folks from flash floods like those devastated in Appalachia, and Native American Tribes want to play a key role in the nation's energy future.

Lobster and Crab Cruelty in Maine?

play audio
Play

Wednesday, September 18, 2013   

ROCKLAND, Maine - An undercover video shot at a lobster and crab processing plant in Rockland shows workers ripping the heads and claws off live lobsters and crabs in apparent violation of state laws against cruelty to animals.

A whistleblower tipped off the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in August that questionable methods were being used at Linda Bean's Perfect Maine company. Dan Paden, a PETA spokesman, said a member of the group then got a job there and used a hidden video camera.

"The video shows lobsters and crabs being ripped apart while they are alive and fully conscious, and able to feel pain," he said.

The company did not return calls for comment. According to PETA, some other Maine seafood processors use humane killing methods. It plans to ask law enforcement officials to investigate.

A study commissioned by the European Union concluded that 10-legged crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs are able to feel pain.

"That scientific panel classified lobsters and crabs in the same category of animals as dogs and cats - that is, as animals who can feel pain, and should be protected from unnecessary pain," he said.

The video represents the first-ever behind-the-scenes look at procedures in these types of processing facilities about which, countrywide, not much is publicly known, Paden said. PETA tried unsuccessfully to talk with the company about using one of two more humane commercial killing techniques, he said.

"Maine law prohibits intentionally mutilating any live creature, including crustaceans," he said. "It criminalizes killing an animal by a means that does not cause instantaneous death."

PETA advocates a vegan lifestyle and says the best way to keep crabs and lobster from suffering is to stop eating them. In this case, Paden said, the organization is calling for at least a switch to a slaughter method that would rapidly stun and kill the creatures.

The video is online at cbsnews.com.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The smoking rate among adults in Maryland is 9.6%, much lower than the national average of 12.9%. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A new report on lung cancer by the American Lung Association showed Maryland has quite a bit of room to improve diagnoses and treatment but experts sa…


Social Issues

play sound

La Niña is bringing a cooler, wetter winter to Oregon and likely driving up heating bills as systems work harder. This is the third year of …

Environment

play sound

The number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed on roadways in the U.S. has nearly doubled in the past 12 years and a New Mexico researcher wants to …


Social Issues

play sound

CLARIFICATION: We updated language to clarify the timing for when the study's authors began tracking certain outcome measures for children within the …

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Kyla Russell for WISH-TV.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service C…

Social Issues

play sound

A recent study from Florida Atlantic University highlights a concerning rise in alcohol-related deaths across the United States, with mortality rates …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021