Ask Beachwear Retailer WINGS to End Hermit Crab Sales

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BACKGROUND

Hermit crabs are sentient, shy animals who naturally shun human contact. In the wild, they travel in colonies that number up to 100 and they can live up to 40 years. But when kept in captivity, they typically die between the ages of 1 and 4. Sadly, countless people purchase hermit crabs on a whim as “pets,” usually without the knowledge required to meet the animals’ specialized husbandry needs or the inclination to commit to the years-long responsibility of caring for them. Stolen from the wild, peddled as cheap trinkets, confined to small “habitats,” roughly handled, fed improper diets, and forgotten when the novelty wears off, hermit crabs are doomed from the moment that they are captured. PETA has asked WINGS—a retailer that specializes in tourist goods, swimwear, and apparel—to end the sale of these animals in all 30 of its stores nationwide, but to no avail. Your voice is needed!

With so many products to offer tourists, WINGS can profit without causing suffering. Please join us today in politely urging the president of WINGS as well as the company’s individual stores to do the right thing by ending hermit crab sales. And please forward this alert widely!


WHOM TO CONTACT

Please send polite comments to:

Shaul Levy
Cofounder and President
L & L WINGS, Inc.
212-481-8299
wings.customerservice@wingsbeachwear.com

Individual Stores


SAMPLE LETTER

Dear President Levy,

I was shocked to learn that WINGS sells live hermit crabs, and I am respectfully requesting you discontinue. Please allow me to elaborate. Animals are sentient creatures with the capacity to experience complex emotions; being subjected to noisy environments, loud noises, bright lights, and continuous interference from unconcerned and curious consumers causes untold suffering, including confusion, pain, and fear.

Every year, countless people give in to temptation and purchase wild or exotic animals on a whim as “pets”, but very few have the knowledge required to meet the animals’ specialized husbandry needs or the inclination to commit to the years-long responsibility of caring for them. Stolen from the wild, peddled as cheap trinkets, confined to small “habitats”, roughly handled, fed improper diets, and forgotten when the novelty wears off, these animals are doomed from the moment that they are born.

With so many harmless products to offer tourists, WINGS could make a profit without causing suffering, but as long as you continue to unnecessarily capitalize on the suffering of animals, I will not financially support you and will share this alert by informing family, friends, and members of online communities.

Please make both the ethical and financially-responsible decision to discontinue selling hermit crabs immediately: join an increasing body of corporations who are listening to a concerned and attentive consumer population who refuse to be complicit in the inherently cruel industry of animal commerce.

Thank you for taking the time to read this important appeal.

NAME

hermit crabs are not toys,
they are not meant to entertain,
adults, girls of boys.
why not just let them
be, in the sea and the sand
amongst their own company.

Karen Lyons Kalmenson