Publix continues to sell live lobsters, who languish in overcrowded containers in their stores, unable to roam freely as they would in nature. Publix should join another major super markets like Safeway and Raley's who have discontinued this horrific practice.

Lobsters and fish are recognized by experts as being capable of experiencing great suffering and distress. Scientists in the European Union classify lobsters as “category I”—that is, animals who experience pain. Also in this category are dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, and humans. Dr. Nedim C. Buyukmihci, professor of veterinary surgery, writes, “There is no question that lobsters have the ability to feel pain and suffer … [I]t would be inappropriate to do something to lobsters that you would not consider doing to conscious dogs, cats, or humans.” Dr. Jaren Horsley, an invertebrate zoologist at the National Zoo, found that lobsters possess a “sophisticated nervous system.”

Confined lobsters may suffer from stress, low oxygen levels, and crowding—and those who are “chosen” are typically cut up or boiled alive, suffering excruciating pain every second of the three long minutes that it takes for them to die.

Please help us send a clear message to Publix that this practice is inhumane and that cruelty will not be tolerated by their customers.