September 17, 2013 — PETA claims a A top seafood plant in Maine is killing lobsters and crabs using a "primitive and painful" method that violates the state's cruelty-to-animals statute. The state of Maine denies the allegation.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals provided CBSNews.com with the video, which the group says was shot by one of its investigators at Linda Bean's Maine Lobster in Rockland. The footage, part of a five-month PETA investigation, appears to show workers ripping apart the bodies of conscious lobsters, slamming live crabs face-first onto spikes and forcing their exposed organs against spinning bristles.
"These animals are dying agonizing deaths at this facility," said Dan Paden, an evidence analysis manager at PETA.
The animal rights group says the company should be using readily available technology that electrically stuns the animals or subjects them hydrostatic pressure before they're dismembered. Both methods kill the crustaceans almost instantaneously.
PETA says Ms. Bean has denied requests to meet with them about the alleged abuse. Ms. Bean did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBSNews.com.
PETA said it would file a criminal complaint Tuesday with local police and the district attorney. Maine law criminalizes intentionally killing animals by any method that does not cause instantaneous death. The statute does not specifically exempt lobsters and crabs.
Read the full story and watch the video from CBS News