Animal right activists caught a Dublin restaurant by surprise when they ‘liberated’ nine lobsters from its dinner menu.

Members of the National Animal Rights Association (NARA) targeted the Ka Shing restaurant on Dublin’s Wicklow Street and filmed their daring raid to clear out the Chinese eatery’s fish tank.

The group grabbed nine lobsters out of the tank, which sits in the front window of the premises, before putting them into bags and fleeing.





Staff at the Chinese restaurant were distracted by two members of the group, who pretended to be interested in a table.

The activists took the lobsters to Clontarf where they were released into the sea after rubber bands were removed from their claws.

During the raid, which was received popular support on YouTube, members of the group unfurled a banner in the street before they seized the lobsters.

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Whatsapp The group removed the lobsters rubber bands before releasing them Credit: National Animal Rights Association

A spokesperson for the restaurant said that the incident had been reported to Gardai, adding that the raid had cost the eatery almost €150 - the value of the lobsters.

NARA spokeswoman Laura Broxson however stood by the group's action.



“Would you boil a cat or dog alive? No. So why do people think it’s okay to do this to a lobster? They feel pain. They feel fear. They suffer,” she said.

“Yet, over 20 million lobsters are killed in this way every year.... This was a life-or-death situation for these lobsters, so for us, the choice was an easy one. What we did was an act of compassion,” added Ms Broxson.

The NARA said they had handed in leaflets outlining their concerns to the restaurant’s management some weeks ago but had received no response.

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Whatsapp The 'Ka Shing Nine' Credit: National Animal Rights Association

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