Palmetto Bay Resident Awarded PETA's Lobster Defender Award
DORAL (CBSMiami) - A Palmetto Bay resident, after expressing concern over a Lobster Zone game at a local restaurant, has been awarded a Lobster Defender Award from PETA who believes the game "belong(s) in the book of bad ideas."
Cristina Fernandez, according to PETA, will receive a congratulatory note along with a framed certificate for her efforts in getting the Carolina Ale House in Doral to rid the restaurant of a game that allows players to pay in attempt to catch a spiny sea creature to eat.
The Lobster Zone is a filtered tank which holds live lobsters that resembles the popular arcade style claw game. Customers interested can pay $2, according to the machine's website, to drop a mechanical claw into the water to catch the lobster. If the customer succeeds, the animal is then prepared in the kitchen for the customer to eat.
Tracy Reiman, the Executive Vice President of PETA says Fernandez is, "a shining example of how simply speaking up can help stop animal suffering," Reiman said, adding, "Whether the lobsters who are caught are taken to the kitchen or returned to the tank to be tormented anew, these cruel devices belong in the book of bad ideas."
PETA, in the statement, said that lobsters kept in the Lobster Zone tank suffer stress from confinement, low oxygen levels and hunger. According to the Lobster Zone game website, the game features a "state of the art filtration system" which keeps the animals, "very content with the nutrients in the water."
Lobster Zone, also according to the game's website, supports over 480 machines nationwide.
