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Confessions from a former seafood restaurant worker; Opinions wanted
May 6, 2006

This is from a person who worked in a restaurant, read below (warning - graphic descriptions):



I was hostessing in a restaurant famous for seafood.  At the time I was a well-intentioned, but ignorant, vegetarian.  I had gone into the kitchen to take some bread out of the oven for one of the tables, and there were live lobsters in the oven...their bellies had been split open and stuffed with other animals, but the lobsters were still alive.  I'll never forget the waving arms and legs inside that 400 degree oven.  


        - -  OPINIONS WANTED - -

For the meat-eaters:  Does the thought of this description make you feel that you would still contribute your money to cause this kind of suffering because you only want a meal?  Or would anyone consider ordering a dish that did not cause this kind of suffering?
One more note before you decide;  It has been shown that lobsters do not have the thing that we humans have that makes them go into shock. So it can be concluded that lobsters feel every bit of pain through the duration of torture until their death is complete.
 
Thanks,

BJ 
Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Saturday May 6, 2006, 6:11 am
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Roy C. (333) 		Saturday May 6, 2006, 6:41 am
Thank you Billye for sharing and caring!

Past Member (0) 		Saturday May 6, 2006, 6:47 am
Yes Billye...thank you for sharing this. This is very important. I know MANY people who say "I love to eat lobster, but I won't cook it at home!!". This is the way meat-eaters think a lot of the time. Their dirty work is performed by others so they don't have to face the truth. :( I was once this way, too...so I have no room to judge. But now...I have faced this truth and my conscience is clear. I urge all meat-eaters and do the same. THINK about the pain you are causing JUST for a desire that could be fulfilled in other humane ways. (ie. Delicious Vegan dishes...or JUST SIMPLE FRUIT!) It's time we STOP THIS SELFISHNESS and EGO CENTRIC, SELF-FULFILLING, GREED CENTERED lifestyles that many humans lead. (how's THAT for non-judgemental?!?!? lol) Thanks again, Billye! xo

Ruth C. (6) 		Saturday May 6, 2006, 8:51 am
thankfully, I don't like lobster, so I wouldn't pick this from a menu to begin with. I already feel sorry for these poor critters in tanks with their claws in rubber bands, waiting for a buyer.

Lisa R. (32) 		Saturday May 6, 2006, 11:55 am
I have never eaten Lobster nor do i intend to.

Fran Takacs (84) 		Saturday May 6, 2006, 2:13 pm
I always speak very loudly about the poor dying lobsters held in a lobster tank for buying. I am vegan and an animal rights activist, I have threatened many times to break a tank or two to free the lobsters, unfortunately, I don't live anywhere near water.
Good article, think I will print this one out and post it near a few lobster tanks.
Thanks!

Frances S. (39) 		Saturday May 6, 2006, 3:06 pm
Hideous, proud to save I've never eaten any shell-fish in my life, nor do I intend to.
An aquaintance of mine told me that she ordered lobster (live) in a restuarant in Cyprus, it was thrown on the barbeque and it was screaming. That haunts me.

Robin Aunchman (14) 		Saturday May 6, 2006, 3:38 pm
Not just the poor lobsters, but all the animals suffer for human consumption...the abuse at the chicken farms, baby cows intended for veal, farm raised salmon, etc, etc... if more meat eaters knew EXACTLY how their food was raised and slaughtered before their consumption, I bet quite a few would surely change their minds and go vegetarian!! ( I certainly did!!)

Past Member (0) 		Sunday May 7, 2006, 8:32 pm
Lobster has never appealed to me as food. Something so disturbing about boiling a live creature like that and tearing into it. Ech. Far too expensive , as well. To me , it's flat out crazy.

Past Member (0) 		Sunday May 7, 2006, 9:54 pm
Even if I loved the meat of lobsters, crabs and alike, I would certainly stop eating them immediately if I found out that I'm contributing to their suffering. Unfortunately, most selfish human beings won't even consider this...

:-(

Past Member (0) 		Sunday May 7, 2006, 11:29 pm
Yes, Nick. Unfortunately , people are all too willing to turn a blind eye for the sake of their own pleasure.

Maryalice M. (20) 		Monday May 8, 2006, 2:50 pm
I never liked lobster and if I had to kill animals and poultry to eat I would not. I was close to being a vegatarian, and much healthier than I am now. I do love seafood, but again, if I had to kill a fish to eat, could not. The thing is most people don't think animals, lobsters have feelings, or are capable of thought. Lord, people don't even care about other human beings, how would they ever consider a lobster's pain.

Past Member (0) 		Thursday May 11, 2006, 4:09 am
oh thats *:( incommentable!

jennifer k. (0) 		Thursday May 11, 2006, 3:29 pm
they should stop eating sea food so animals can live. its like you getting eaten.

Julie Hall (9) 		Friday May 12, 2006, 12:14 am
Hi Billye this is terrible I feel you. I used to eat meat till I learnned the truth how animals are mistreated and how unhealthy it is to eat them. I feel I have alot of making up to do in the animal world and dedicate my time as a vegan
and let others know to how crucial this really is I feel better about myself. Thanks for sharing.

Lisa Sears (14) 		Friday May 12, 2006, 6:16 am
This is one of the most horrific stories I've ever heard! I know that simply walking past the lobster tank at the local grocery store, almost always triggers my gag reflex. At one time I was embarrassed by this response. Now I actually hope that one day, after I've just eaten a nice meal, I really puke all over their damned floor! Who knows, that might even make it onto local TV stations as a human interest [lobster interest?] story.

Anyway, we condemn the people of other countries for walking thru an open-air market and selecting the live dog they want to eat for supper that night. Is this any different?

Theresa S. (0) 		Friday May 12, 2006, 8:07 am
Disgusting...I myself have eaten lobster but never will again once I found out how they were cooked....We are gifted with knowledge and wisdom we also have the capeablility to do something with our knowledge animals need our protection we were put on this earth to protect them not to eat them or cause them more suffering than they put themselves through...Thank you for sharing and for asking others opinions!

Amalthea Lalaith (3) 		Friday May 12, 2006, 7:59 pm
This is so sad. =(
I am going to the bahamas with my family over the summer and I just KNOW some of them will order sea food. I don't know if I'll be able to stomach watching them eat it now.

Artisina Storm (75) 		Saturday May 13, 2006, 2:35 pm
I am not a vegan, but that's because I was raised on meat and potatos. I am slowly cutting meat out of my diet and every article that I read like this one speeds up the process. I was also a meatwrapper 30 years and you tend to just see meat, not living animals and the blood becomes just juice. One of our butchers really started becoming aware of this and had to quit! I was so proud of him! Thank you for posting this. Keep up the the good work and know that you really are making a difference. It just takes some people longer than others to to come out from under the brainwashing. I know it took me years to see it. Thanks again!

Diana B. (11) 		Monday May 15, 2006, 5:10 pm
thanks for posting this.
a lot of meat eaters don't really realize the suffering that goes into their meals.
this is not only the case with lobsters, but all other animals as well.

May E. (107) 		Monday May 15, 2006, 5:20 pm
I think that there is no limit to the lengths a human being will go if assured that depravity is the way things are done.

Past Member (0) 		Tuesday May 16, 2006, 11:48 am
I am going to be honest and say I love lobster and after hearing this story I will continue to eat it and other meat. I would cook lobster one day maybe. I know what animals go though so we can eat them and respect people who are veggies. I'm not heartless or anything. This issue does not bother me as much as others do.

Billye Thompson (395) 		Tuesday May 16, 2006, 12:15 pm
Thanks so much for your unpretentious honesty Reina, I know it takes fortitude to speak what one feels even though the opposition seems against you at that moment.

Thanks to everyone who added their thoughts and opinions on this subject. And thanks for all you do for the animals :)

Billye

Diana B. (2) 		Tuesday May 16, 2006, 3:48 pm
This absolutely disgusting and sickening. This is the absolute reason why I am vegan. I cannot even look at meat. WHen I go into the grocery store and have to go by the meat section for any reason I want to throw up and scream at eveyone buying meat. It makes me sick.

Past Member (0) 		Tuesday May 16, 2006, 7:01 pm
I agree with you the lobsters do feel. I worked for Red Lobster as a dishwasher and my very first experience *this was about a year after working in the dishroom I got moved to the prep area* and my first day as a prep I had to drop a live lobster into boiling water and I talked to the lobster and when I said, I have to put you in the water now he raised his claws and backed up. I realized right then and there I couldn't do it. I walked out that day with the lobster and never returned. I couldn't. I won't eat there now. I'll mouth off at my family if they try to eat there. I'll tell them you remember Fred...that was the lobster I took home with me. He lived only two years in the aquarium but still the experience says with you.

joab k. (102) 		Wednesday May 17, 2006, 1:28 pm
I agree vegan is better and particularly with higher life forms. A lobster is, in my mind, an aquatic insect, do you use insecticides in your home, do you swat flies or squish roaches., if you saw a roach in your microwave would you rescue it and set it free, we all draw our lines in different places, but unless you are Jain, wear a mask to avoid breething in living things and carry a broom to avoid walking on even the smallest insect don't criticize me for eating a lobster every year or so, millions of people and children suffer as much in africa, indonesia and even here in the USA and i don't believe that it is because they ate lobster in a past life, its more ecologically sound to be vegan and healthier, i admit, unfortunately i am quite imperfect

Sheila G. (12) 		Thursday May 25, 2006, 10:27 am
It is just truly horrifying to think of the poor lobsters suffering. I am a vegetarian, and darn proud of it, and I would NEVER support any such restaurant by eating there.

Maiden M. (679) 		Saturday May 27, 2006, 9:59 pm
Well, In order to cook fresh lobster, it has to be alive, but the thought of those inside of the lobster itself has me wondering WHAT THE F@#$! I don't think you will finding me eating lobster anytime soon. Thanx for the heads up on this one HUGZ, Maiden M.

Martin Fletes (0) 		Friday June 2, 2006, 8:57 am
I have to admit that I would worry about the suffering people before I worried about dinner.

Sandy M. (615) 		Saturday June 10, 2006, 11:16 pm
Billye, I too, am a former restaurant working & no first hand what you are talking about. It is unbelievably cruel. Thank you for sharing!

Jen P. (0) 		Monday June 12, 2006, 10:14 pm
I eat meat but that freaks me out. I'll never eat lobster again.

Jain Truth (4) 		Tuesday June 20, 2006, 11:27 pm
Wonder why people never realise this pain and enjoy their happy meal with such tortureful killing and murders.Many say food is their choice. Can i ask them would they do same thing with human being given a chnace just to take care of their taste buds? It is very shameful on human part to kill innocent creatures . I hope this stops one day, if not nature must revenge back on all such people with AIDS, SARS, bird flu, mad cow disease , pork flu and what not. Even if those flu don;t kill them , they must be killed similar way somewhere, some times. they have no right to live happily when they have no regards for other' life. Newton law must be applied to those killers. They need to be given equal punishment and reaction. And who knows those very same killers are dieing painful death in someother form!!!

Noreen D. (73) 		Friday June 23, 2006, 8:44 am
I too have seen this done and told the cook he was killing the lobster in the most cruel ways, he just laughed but the head cook said he put them in boiling water to kill them quickly then bake stuff them makes for more tender meat.
Working in the restuarant business makes you think twice about what you eat.

Terry G. (36) 		Friday June 23, 2006, 10:51 am
I have never eaten Lobster,and never will. I always thought that the squeel -they say lobsters do was just air coming out of their shell,I never knew they did that to them,just as well I'll never eat one.Although I did once have one as a pet!,he lived in my 5foot tropical tank,he eat well,and lived till a ripe age,and was finaly buried in my garden when he died!

Allison Balcerak (23) 		Wednesday October 4, 2006, 10:17 am
I've been a vegetarian for a year and a half now, and this is exactly why. I'm glad Fred got to come home with you, I certainly would think he enjoyed his "vacation home" rather than the pot of boiling water. I have a god chicken named Spooky (like a god daughter or god father) and she's adorable! I don't understand why people ask me if I eat chicken or fish even after I tell them I don't eat meat. It's like meat eaters (and some "vegetarians!") think meat is just cows and pigs. It's absolutely depressing.

Jennifer y. (5) 		Saturday April 7, 2007, 3:14 pm
You should go to some expensive Japanese resturants. They server sashimi out of live fish. The fish is cut into pieces so customers can pick the flesh and eat it as sashimi, while the fish's mouth is opening and closing, still very alive... The freshest sashimi you can get!

Karen B. (0) 		Thursday July 19, 2007, 8:10 am
I am not a vegetarian, but I also don't endose cruelty, I take issue with corporate farming. There is no reason to cause an animal to suffer. They should do it in a way that the animal doesn't even know what hit them.

Sandra Carr (86) 		Friday March 7, 2008, 11:27 am
Thank God I'm a vegetarian now!!!!

Pienaar Du Plessis (0) 		Thursday November 27, 2008, 4:33 am
The one thing all you vegetarians should remember is all the animals that suffered for your milk and eggs and cheese.How can you not eat meat because of creulty but keep eating eggs and milk?

Milking cows must have calves regularly to keep produsing milk.And if it is a male calf it is most often killed or sold.How is this less cruel than eating meat?

Pienaar Du Plessis (0) 		Thursday November 27, 2008, 4:35 am
The one thing all you vegetarians should remember is all the animals that suffered for your milk and eggs and cheese.How can you not eat meat because of creulty but keep eating eggs and milk?

Milking cows must have calves regularly to keep produsing milk.And if it is a male calf it is most often killed or sold.How is this less cruel than eating meat?

Pienaar Du Plessis (0) 		Thursday November 27, 2008, 4:36 am
Sorry posted twice!

pickerel weed (1) 		Wednesday December 3, 2008, 9:47 am
of course a true "vegan", vegetarian does not eat egg and milk products.

yes, everyone has their own limits. i am trying to become more vegetarian and it is very difficult...i have learned from childhood to enjoy the taste of animal flesh, milk and eggs and to think nothing of using animal skins. bones, feathers for my comfort. it is hard to change and to relate those things to the suffering of other creatures...i am working on it.

i think the worse thing is the way animals are mistreated while they are living and the cruel ways that they are slaughtered for our use.

other animals kill in order to live themselves. natives of my country killed only what they needed and used every part of their kill and respected the creature they killed.

it's a complicated issue and each of us needs to decide how to deal with it. are humans naturally carnivoires? is eating flesh even healthy for us?.do we need to kill animals for our needs?...i honestly have mixed feelings and admit to feeling like a hypocrite.

Pienaar Du Plessis (0) 		Monday December 15, 2008, 12:04 pm
I personally think that eating meat is a part of life, in other words it's natural.BUT what I don't think is natural is to let animals suffer so that they can provide food ect. for us.

I think it is 100% OK to eat meat as long as the animals have lived a happy and natural life.

Loretta H. (11) 		Wednesday January 21, 2009, 8:15 am
This is just so absolutely disgusting. Lobsters do feel pain. What right do we humans have to inflict this pain and suffering on innocent creatures like this. I have been a vegetarian for almost 37 years now and feel good about how I live my life. Nothing suffers because of me. Humans don't even care about humans, so why would they care about anything else? They are just so greedy and unfeeling and will surely go to hell when they leave this earth.

Marie Cochran (8) 		Monday August 3, 2009, 6:51 pm
That is a horrible story. Unfortunately it happens every day. Someone somewhere is torturing a poor innocent animal.

Check out this movie if you are still in doubt about animals.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6361872964130308142

If you can watch that movie in full and still eat meat, wear fur or dump an animal in the shelter or street than you are human without a heart.

I am a vegan and will NOT eat anything that comes from an animal. I am not going to contribute to the suffering of an animal in any way.
And my health is excellent!

Go veg and save a life one meal at a time.

Thank you for posting this story.

Remember Red Lobster is also a huge buyer of Canadian Seafood which fuels the seal slaughter. No one I know will not step foot in that dump.

Author

Billye Thompson
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female, age 52, married, 2 children
Mount Juliet, TN, USA
BILLYE'S SHARES
Jan
15
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  http://www.care2.com/c2c/ group/Winesipmakecollect This group is for people who like wine. Whether you make it yourself, collect it, drink it, or simply want to know more about it. No need to reply, Thanks, Billye
Jan
11
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  Hi, I was wondering who all enjoys wine, and if anyone collects wine. Does anyone make their own wine?  I'm thinking about starting a group about the subjects and wondered how much interest there might be. Thanks! Billye  ...
Oct
14
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I've just joined! I wanted to tell you about a great resource website for vegans and vegetarians - http://www.VeganWorld.com . This is a fun social networking site for vegans/vegetarians where you can create a profile, add photos, and meet ...
May
16
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Thanks to all my friends for the comments and everything else you do to make this world better for all living creatures!  I should really tell you more often how great I think you are! 


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Ein Grund, so eine Studie, könnte sein, dass die US-Medien sehr einseitig berichten und damit die Wahrnehmung des Krieges stark beeinflussen.http://www.h eise.de/tp/r4/artikel/31/ 31458/1.html
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