Animal Rights Activist Banned From Michelin Restaurant After ‘Freeing’ Educational Pet Lobster

An animal rights activist stormed a seafood restaurant in Weymouth, Dorset, grabbed a live lobster from the fish tank and “freed” it into the harbour.

Marine biologist Emma Smart, 47, was convinced the lobster was about to be boiled for dinner.

Turns out the lobster had been a much-loved educational pet at the Catch restaurant for two-and-a-half years, used to teach kids about marine life, and was not on the menu.

The lobster even had a name – George.

Staff tried to stop Emma getting away, but she barged through them and legged it to the harbour, where she lobbed George into the ocean.

It’s anyone’s guess whether George survived, or whether he would have even appreciated being returned to the ocean. Yeah OK, he may not have been on the menu, but he didn’t ask for unpaid employment either, and he was basically spending his days (well-fed, to be fair) inside a fish tank in this Michelin-starred restaurant.

Emma, described as someone who “cares very deeply about animals”, admitted one count of causing criminal damage to a lobster when she appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court, which is a sentence i never thought I’d read or write in my life.

As per the Independent, the judge hit Emma with a three-year restraining order banning her from being within 10 metres of Catch at the Old Fish Market.

Not sure banning an animal rights activist from a seafood restaurant is much of a punishment, but I guess it means she’d be arrested if she turns up again and tries to kidnap any more crustaceans.

Best of luck/RIP George – hope he hasn’t forgotten his survival skills.

For the animal rights activist who stabbed a woman she thought was wearing fur, click HERE. Whoops.