People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has filed a lawsuit against a lobster festival in Maine, calling the steaming of lobsters "egregiously cruel."
PETA filed the lawsuit on July 24 against the Maine Lobster Festival and the City of Rockland, asking the court to stop the steaming of lobsters. The group said the judge should declare the event a "public nuisance."
"Today, PETA filed a lawsuit against the Maine Lobster Festival and the City of Rockland in Knox County Superior Court over the city-endorsed event’s egregiously cruel method of steaming thousands of lobsters alive in what PETA contends is a violation of Maine law prohibiting the torture and torment of animals," the group wrote.
PETA filed the lawsuit with the Knox County Superior Court.
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Paul DeSaulniers of Rockland unloads a fresh batch of lobster at the food tent during the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland on Sunday, August 5, 2018. (Ariana van den Akker/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
It asked the court to "issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the steaming of live lobsters on public lands."
According to the lawsuit, the festival prevents individuals from enjoying Harbor Park and other nearby areas.
In the lawsuit, PETA argued that people should be able to enjoy the area "without being forced to witness extreme animal suffering as approximately 16,000 live lobsters are illegally tormented and killed at the festival each year."
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A rare bright orange lobster shares the tank with regular lobsters. (The Associated Press)
PETA Foundation Director of Litigation Asher Smith said the event amounts to "municipally supported cruelty."
"PETA is pushing to end these horrific displays and restore compassionate Rockland residents’ ability to enjoy Harbor Park year-round," Smith said.
The logo of the international non-governmental animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is pictured in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on May 13, 2022. (YANN SCHREIBER/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement shared with the Penobscot Bay Pilot, the Maine Lobster Festival and Rockland Festival Corporation denied the allegations.
"We are aware of the lawsuit filed by PETA and take any public concern seriously. However, the methods we use to prepare lobster at the festival follow widely accepted and legal culinary practices that have been in place in homes, restaurants, and seafood festivals across the globe for generations," the groups wrote. "While we appreciate PETA's concerns, there is no conclusive scientific consensus that lobsters feel pain in a way comparable to mammals. They do not have a brain capable of processing pain."
Fox News Digital reached out to PETA, Maine Lobster Festival and the City of Rockland for comment.