Emma Smart, an animal rights activist, took a lobster from a restaurant tank and released it into the harbor. The lobster was a pet of restaurant owner Anthony Cooper for two-and-a-half years and was used to educate children. The incident occurred on April 10 last year at the Catch restaurant in Weymouth, Dorset.
Smart believed the lobster was destined for the dinner plate, but it was not for sale. According to Daily Mail - News, Ben Thompson described that Smart entered the restaurant after guests left, took the lobster from the tank despite staff attempts to stop her, and placed it in the harbor. Smart was handed a three-year restraining order last week banning her from being within 10 meters of the Catch restaurant.
At 9pm on April 10 last year the defendant was waiting outside the entrance of the restaurant. When the guests are leaving she comes in and a member of staff attempts to push her out of the property. Eventually Ms Smart makes her way towards the tank that holds the crayfish, which is actually a lobster. It had belonged to the restaurant owner Anthony Cooper for two-and-a-half years and was not for sale but instead for education reasons when children visit. Ms Smart reached into the fish tank and took the lobster. Multiple members of staff tried to stop her but she left and leaned over a wall before placing it in the harbour, with the lobster not seen again.
She admitted one count of causing criminal damage to a lobster in court. The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence on charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and assault. The lobster has not been seen since the incident, leaving its survival uncertain.
The exact reason why the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges of causing unnecessary suffering and assault remains unclear, as do the full details of the restraining order conditions beyond the 10-meter distance.