The animal-rights group that lost its bid to put the Maine Lobster Festival out of business says it plans to appeal the ruling.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals went to court last summer to try to prevent the Rockland festival from cooking lobsters.
Though a judge found this week that the suit is short on substance, PETA says it’s not quitting its fight to protect the popular Maine seafood from what it considers inhumane death.
“Lobsters’ lives shouldn’t be dismissed any more than PETA’s lawsuit should be, and the case is a historic one,” the organization told The Maine Wire on Wednesday. “It comes at a time when the city must honestly acknowledge that other sentient forms of life may not look exactly like Maine residents, but they feel pain and are having it cruelly inflicted on them.
Named as co-defendants in the suit are the city of Rockland and the festival, which denies that its treatment of lobsters violates the state’s law outlawing animal abuse.
PETA says it is currently working on its appeal, which it plans to file shortly.
