Community
Print
A petition to
ban grocery store lobster tanks in Canada’s Maritime provinces is gaining
momentum with more than 14,000 signatures.
New
Brunswick’s Andrea McAnany launched the petition against the tanks – which are
common in the area’s grocery stores – after being inspired by her four-year-old
son’s empathy for the animals.
‘Encouraging’
McAnany
described the increase in signatures she’s collected as ‘encouraging’.
She added: “It
shows that despite some negative feedback, which absolutely there always will
be, there’s a lot of people that support the cause as well.”
‘Enough of
us care’
McAnany is
coming at the situation from an animal welfare perspective – saying that she’s fighting
for more humane practices, rather than an end to lobster fishing – and is hopeful
about the power of the petition.
She said: “I
think 15,000 is a very good number to say ‘enough of us care about this cause,
can you please listen and can you please reconsider?’”
No ‘reason
to change’
Jacquelin
Weatherbee, the Director of External Communications at local grocery chain Sobeys,
commented early this month, saying the company ‘does not see any reason to
change’.
She added: “Sobeys
respects that customers have varying opinions, which is why we offer our
customers choice through both live and frozen lobster options in our stores.”
‘One step
further’
In the
provinces that make up the Maritimes – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince
Edward Island – it’s common not only for lobsters to be kept in tightly-packed
tanks in store, but to be boiled alive prior to consumption.
Vegans and
animal advocates have pointed out that a ban on in-store tanks would fall short of
ending cruelty to the animals.
Carla
Irvine commented on coverage by Global News, addressing these issues.
She wrote: “It
is nice to see this lady and her son care so much about the lobsters. I am
wondering if they could go a step further and ask everyone to quit killing and
eating lobsters all together.”
