A businesswoman has criticised an airport security guard for rifling through her luggage and having a photograph taken with one of her live lobsters.

Lisa Feinman, who owns the Atlantic Seafood Market in the US state of Connecticut, had carefully packed more than a dozen lobsters in a cooler to fly to a customer in Boston.

After the Transportation Security Administration posted the picture on Instagram, attracting thousands of likes, Ms Feinman said she was "personally offended" by the agent's actions.

She added that the TSA should focus on doing its job and "leave our personal property alone".

On Facebook, she wrote: "When is it okay to go through someone's checked baggage and take photographs?


"I packed this checked cooler with care and concern for the lobsters and my customer's personal property."

Ms Feinman claimed the lobster in the photograph had been purposely packed underneath the other live crustaceans, so the agent "had to dump out 12 other lobsters to get to this guy".

She also alleged the TSA agent at Logan International Airport in Boston could have broken one of the lobster's claws because he was not handling it properly.

The TSA is yet to respond to Ms Feinman's claims, but earlier said the lobster had "cooperated quite nicely with the screening process".

According to the agency's website, live lobsters are allowed through security as long as they are transported in a clear, plastic, spill proof container.

It adds that TSA officers are required to visually inspect lobsters at checkpoints.