North Alabama vegans protest Lobsterfest

HUNTSVILLE, Al.
For the past 18 years, St. Thomas Episcopal Church in southeast Huntsville has drawn thousands of people to its biggest fundraiser of the year, the Lobsterfest.
The church has raised over $300,000, which has gone toward building Habitat houses in Huntsville and providing medical care for poor Hondurans and Haitians.
Around 3,000 people attended Saturday's event, said church rector, the Rev. Matt Doss.
But that didn't include four people who showed up on the sidewalk in front of the church to protest the annual event -- Dr. Carole Edmonds of Jackson County, Jenni Moody of Huntsville, John Ezell of Decatur and Kathryn Dalenberg of Dekalb County.
The four are members of a Huntsville vegan group that opposes the practice of boiling live lobsters. Edmonds, a dentist who has a practice in Boaz, organized the three-hour peaceful protest.
"What we're trying to do is to bring public awareness that fundraisers should be humane," said Edmonds who has gone on medical mission trips to other countries. "We totally support helping the Hondurans, but not in a cruel manner. The fact they are a church, they should recognize how inhumane it is to boil a lobster alive."
Edmonds, a biology major, said lobsters have the ability to feel pain. She would like the church to consider other alternatives for its fundraiser. The protesters carried a sign that said "Blessed in October. Boiled and roasted in November," referring to the church's practice of the October "Blessing of the Animals" service.
Rev. Doss said if he thought for a minute that boiling lobsters was inhumane he would not be part of the event. While he disagreed with the group, he said they have the right to protest, just as the church has a right to hold a fundraiser.
"That's what's great about America," he said. "I support their right to protest as long as they operate within the law."
The group said it's not only interested in what it considers the inhumane treatment of lobsters and pigs, but for the health issues it can cause humans by eating fish, pork, beef and chicken.
"Lobsters contain a lot of chemicals include mercury and petroleum from the oil spills," said Edmonds. "There are environmental concerns as well. We fish and trap from the ocean and it is not being replenished. By 2048, most of our marine life will be endangered or extinct."
Edmonds doesn't expect to change the minds of most people about becoming vegans, but she said if the group's presence "changes one person's mind, it was worth it."
For information on the Huntsville Vegan group, email huntsvilleveg@gmail.com or check them out on Facebook at Huntsville.vegans. For information on St. Thomas Church's mission work, visit http://stthomas-hsv.dioala.org/or call 256-880-0247.