An animal-rights group has lost its bid to outlaw the midcoast’s annual, internationally-popular Maine Lobster Festival.
PETA was trying to shut down the “world’s largest lobster oven,” claiming that steaming them alive creates a “public nuisance.”
Knox County Justice Patrick Larson found no “special injury,” a requirement of such a legal claim.
The group known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed in its lawsuit that cooking lobsters constitutes illegal animal abuse.
The suit, filed six months ago, called “egregiously cruel” the common method of steaming lobsters for public consumption.
Barring an appellate reversal, the 79th-annual, four-day lobster feast is scheduled for this summer – July 29 through August 2.
Festival organizers have argued that Maine’s laws don’t forbid the traditional preparation of lobster.
