THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180367
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: KENNEBUNKPORT, MAINE LENGTH: 29 lines
A 13-pound lobster that was rescued from a tank in a Wal-Mart in Virginia missed his 15 minutes of fame Wednesday but got a new lease on life as he was released into the Atlantic.
Animal rights activists who secured Stanley's freedom apologized for what they said was a mix-up about where the 24-inch lobster was to be set free. As television crews waited along a beach, Stanley was taken to a rockbound spot a quarter of a mile away.
Bruce Friedrich of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, based in Norfolk, apologized for the confusion but said the group had achieved its goal of saving the giant crustacean.
``In any event, Stanley is going to be living another 75 years in Maine, we hope,'' said Friedrich, who estimated the lobster's age at about 100.
While Stanley missed out on TV time in Maine, he got celebrity treatment in Virginia after his release from the Farmville Wal-Mart. He was shipped overnight by Federal Express to Portsmouth, N.H., where PETA activist Ofelia Rotunda transported him to Kennebunkport.
Stanley's moment of freedom was recorded on film by his liberators.
``We got a small amount of eight-millimeter film,'' said Neil Robinson, Rotunda's husband. ``But the main thing is that he was alive and doing well.'' by CNB