Latest news with #AnimalRights
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
PETA sues Maine Lobster Festival saying the steaming of 16,000 live crustaceans is torture
Animal rights group PETA has filed a lawsuit against the Maine Lobster Festival, claiming the event organizers are torturing lobsters by steaming them to eat. The lawsuit, filed July 24 in Knox County Superior Court, claims the festival and the city of Rockland, where the event is held, are acting in violation of Maine law prohibiting the torture and torment of animals, the Penobscot Bay Pilot reported. PETA is asking the court to deem the festival a 'public nuisance' and ban organizers from steaming lobsters on public land, WMTW reported. PETA argues in the suit that the festival is 'one of the most egregious violations of Maine's animal protection statutes occurring anywhere on public land in the state: the systematic torture of approximately 16,000 live, sentient animals at the Maine Lobster Festival held annually at Harbor Park in Rockland, Maine.' The group's attorneys argued that PETA also filed the lawsuit on behalf of Rockland residents who lose access to walkways, public kayaking and canoeing, intertidal lands, and related civic spaces during the festival. "These individuals cannot access public trust resources without encountering and accepting intolerable conditions: the illegal public torture and killing of thousands of individual sentient lobsters via live steaming." In the suit, PETA argues that because lobsters are sentient beings, they are able to feel pain, and should be protected under Maine law, which requires any method used to kill a sentient creature must cause instantaneous death. PETA argues that the lobsters remain neurologically active and can feel the pain, suffering for several minutes when they are steamed. Meanwhile, event organizers say they're going by the books. An event organizer told WMTW they use 'traditional, lawful and widely accepted cooking methods' when steaming lobsters, and that there is no scientific evidence the crustaceans can feel pain. A hearing has not yet been scheduled for PETA's request for an injunction to stop the steaming of the lobsters. The annual event begins July 30, and runs through August 3.
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
PETA sues Maine Lobster Festival saying the steaming of 16,000 live crustaceans is torture
Animal rights group PETA has filed a lawsuit against the Maine Lobster Festival, claiming the event organizers are torturing lobsters by steaming them to eat. The lawsuit, filed July 24 in Knox County Superior Court, claims the festival and the city of Rockland, where the event is held, are acting in violation of Maine law prohibiting the torture and torment of animals, the Penobscot Bay Pilot reported. PETA is asking the court to deem the festival a 'public nuisance' and ban organizers from steaming lobsters on public land, WMTW reported. PETA argues in the suit that the festival is 'one of the most egregious violations of Maine's animal protection statutes occurring anywhere on public land in the state: the systematic torture of approximately 16,000 live, sentient animals at the Maine Lobster Festival held annually at Harbor Park in Rockland, Maine.' The group's attorneys argued that PETA also filed the lawsuit on behalf of Rockland residents who lose access to walkways, public kayaking and canoeing, intertidal lands, and related civic spaces during the festival. "These individuals cannot access public trust resources without encountering and accepting intolerable conditions: the illegal public torture and killing of thousands of individual sentient lobsters via live steaming." In the suit, PETA argues that because lobsters are sentient beings, they are able to feel pain, and should be protected under Maine law, which requires any method used to kill a sentient creature must cause instantaneous death. PETA argues that the lobsters remain neurologically active and can feel the pain, suffering for several minutes when they are steamed. Meanwhile, event organizers say they're going by the books. An event organizer told WMTW they use 'traditional, lawful and widely accepted cooking methods' when steaming lobsters, and that there is no scientific evidence the crustaceans can feel pain. A hearing has not yet been scheduled for PETA's request for an injunction to stop the steaming of the lobsters. The annual event begins July 30, and runs through August 3.
South China Morning Post
20-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Activists protest against planned killings at German zoo's baboon enclosure
Animal rights activists on Sunday chained themselves to the baboon enclosure at a Bavarian zoo to protest against the planned killing of the healthy animals. 'With the planned killing of baboons, the zoo is setting a precedent that will enable other zoos to kill healthy primates at will in future, which has not been permitted up to now,' argued Emilia Schüler of the Animal Rebellion group. She described the zoo's plans as 'not only a setback to animal rights, but an absolute crossing of red lines.' Back in February 2024, the city-run Nuremberg Tiergarten zoo announced plans to kill some of its Guinea baboons because the group had become too large for the facility. This had led to an increase in conflicts within the group that led to animals getting injured, the zoo argued. The facility says it has been trying for years to reduce the size of the Guinea baboon group and sell off animals, but without success so far. The protest, which involved six people carrying posters, was initially peaceful, police said.
Free Malaysia Today
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Sue town councils that issue fines for feeding strays, says activist
Animal rights activists are to hold a demonstration calling for reform of the Animal Welfare Act at the compound of the Prime Minister's Office on July 25. KUALA LUMPUR : People who have been issued summonses by local councils for feeding stray animals, including dogs, were urged today to challenge such rules. Animal rights activist and lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan said he would help them take the councils to court. Any by-law against feeding stray animals would be unconstitutional and an abuse of power, he said, and the same principle would apply to feeding stray animals at any residential area, including serviced apartments. 'We can feed whoever we want. If anybody wants to fine you for feeding stray animals, take the summons to me, I will take them (the authority) to court pro bono,' Rajesh said at an animal rights forum today at HELP University. Rajesh also spoke on a suit brought against the Terengganu state government and Besut district council over the alleged unlawful killing of a stray dog, Kopi. He said that the decision date has been postponed to September. He said the plaintiff was ready to take the case to the Court of Appeal should the case be lost. Demonstration at PMO on July 25 Rajesh Nagarajan and S Shashi Kumar (front row, centre) with participants who attended an animal welfare forum in Kuala Lumpur today. Separately, S Shashi Kumar, the president of Global Human Rights Federation, announced that a demonstration calling for reform of the Animal Welfare Act will be held at the compound of the Prime Minister's Office on July 25. Shashi said the government should stop the inhumane killing of stray animals. He said a week of debates and discussion had ensued after a memorandum was handed to MPs at Parliament in October last year, but there was no follow-up after that and animals were being killed again.
The Independent
09-07-2025
- General
- The Independent
PETA sues American Kennel Club over breeding standards for French bulldogs
Animal rights group PETA has sued the American Kennel Club (AKC) to force it to abandon breed standards for popular French bulldogs and other breeds, contending the influential club promotes unhealthy physical features. This legal challenge intensifies a major flashpoint in the dog world concerning the attributes defining breeds like the Frenchie, which the AKC ranks as the most popular in the United States. PETA's lawsuit claims: "The AKC's official breed standards for the bulldog, French bulldog, pug, dachshund and Chinese shar-pei provide blueprints for the breeding of deformed, unhealthy dogs." The AKC responded, asserting its commitment to protecting "the health, heritage and well-being of purebred dogs" and that responsibly bred dogs conforming to standards are healthy. 'We categorically reject PETA's mischaracterisations of specific breed standards and their assertion that these standards create unhealthy dogs,' the club said in a statement, adding that dog health and welfare is 'paramount and at the core of our mission.' Founded in 1884, the New York-based AKC is a nonprofit that acts like a league for many canine competitions and runs the United States' oldest dog registry, where owners may choose to document their dogs' existence and accomplishments. Mixed-breed dogs and rescues can be registered as 'canine partners' and compete in some sports, but the club's history is closely tied to fanciers who cultivate and show purebreds. Each breed has its own club that sets the 'standard,' or ideal characteristics, for the dogs. The AKC reviews, approves and promulgates them. PETA, also called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, describes itself as an animal liberation organisation. Its advocacy includes boycotts and litigation. Its supporters are known for staging sometimes disruptive protests in settings including a papal audience, a Starbucks and sporting events such as the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. The Norfolk, Virginia-based nonprofit opposes dog breeding in general and has clashed for years with the AKC. Peppered with photos and diagrams, PETA 's new lawsuit runs through health problems that can beset short-legged, long-backed dachshunds ('the animal equivalent of a poorly designed bridge,' in PETA's view) and shar-peis, which can have spates of fever and inflammation known as 'shar-pei autoinflammatory disease.' The complaint points to pugs' risk of injuries to their marbly eyes and susceptibility to breathing problems and overheating because of their flat faces. The suit zeros in on those and other parts of bulldogs and Frenchies, including the big heads that often prompt caesarian births. The various problems that PETA cites don't afflict all dogs of these breeds, and some do agility, dock diving and other sports. But the conditions can be serious for those that have them. In the UK — where research involving about 24,600 dogs suggested that Frenchies have 'very different, and largely much poorer' health than do other canines — the British Veterinary Association campaigns against advertisements that feature flat-faced breeds. The Netherlands has prohibited breeding very short-snouted dogs. Norway's Supreme Court, however, declined to block the breeding of English bulldogs — but upheld a lower court's prohibition on breeding cavalier King Charles spaniels, citing a different set of health concerns. The AKC says the breed standards it approves reflect 'decades of collaboration with veterinary experts and breeders.' Some breed clubs donate to and participate in dog health research, and the AKC says it has given over $40 million since 1995 to its canine health research charity.
