PETA Asks Ocean City To Replace Hermit Crab Events With Robot Races

OCEAN CITY, NJ — PETA is asking Ocean City to retire its annual Miss Crustacean Beauty Pageant and Hermit Crab Races and replace them with activities that do not use live animals.

In an Aug. 5 letter to Mayor Jay Gillian, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk proposed alternatives including robot crab races, a pageant centered on protecting coastal wildlife, bobbing for crab apples and crab-walk relay races.

Subscribe

The animal rights group said it would even help supply the substitute racers.

In the letter, Newkirk wrote, "Attendees could even race robotic or remote-controlled crabs—and to enshore you're not left in a pinch, PETA would be happy to provide you with some."

PETA framed the request around its criticism of the hermit crab pet trade. According to the letter, hermit crabs are taken from the wild and kept in conditions that do not meet their needs. The source material states that hermit crabs can live more than 40 years in nature, but many kept as pets die within weeks or months because of improper care.

"Hermit crabs are not toys, trinkets, props, or pets," Newkirk wrote. "Respecting crabs begins with recognizing that they are individuals with their own interests, not forcing them into pageants and races for human amusement."

In a statement included with the letter, Newkirk said, "Hermit crabs are individuals with their own interests, and in this day and age, we know enough to respect them, rather than scoop them from their ocean homes and use them for our entertainment."

The letter also described conditions PETA says are common in the commercial hermit crab trade. According to the letter, hermit crabs live in large social colonies, avoid human contact and need humidity, space and interaction with other crabs. The letter states those needs cannot be met in the small plastic containers in which they are commonly kept and sold. It also says wholesalers may force crabs from their shells and that painted shells can expose them to toxic chemicals.

"Times change, and traditions evolve," Newkirk wrote.