Clemency for Crabs! PETA Calls for Cromer Crab Contest to Convert to Crab Apples
2 May 2025
Clemency for Crabs! PETA Calls for Cromer Crab Contest to Convert to Crab Apples
Cromer, Norfolk – Ahead of the annual Cromer Crab and Lobster Festival, PETA rushed a letter to festival President Hilary Cox with a creative suggestion to make the event more fun for everyone: replace the World Pier Crabbing Championships with Crab Appling Championships, where contestants fish for crab apples rather than yanking terrified crabs out of their homes.
“While crab apples only have peels, crabs have feels; they – like all animals – deserve to enjoy their lives free from human cruelty,” writes PETA Vice President of Vegan Corporate Projects Dawn Carr. “PETA believes Mrs. Cox has the vision and gumption to evolve the festival into something greener and kinder that helps crabs ‘sidestep’ suffering.”
Crabs often work together to gather food for their families, defend against intruders and predators, and protect females as they release their eggs. Crabs suffer immensely when yanked from the water, which often causes painful injuries and even loss of their fragile legs. Even if they’re returned to the ocean, stressed crabs have a lower chance of surviving, and those whose limbs have been damaged can starve to death.
A PETA US investigation of a crustacean abattoir revealed that live lobsters and crabs were impaled, torn apart, and decapitated – even as their legs continued to move. Chefs typically place live lobsters in pots of boiling water while they’re still conscious – a cruel practice that has been banned in Switzerland. Fish may slowly suffocate or be crushed to death when they’re dragged out of the ocean in huge nets, and the throats and stomachs of those who survive are cut open on the decks of fishing boats.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Lucy Watson +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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