Mr. John Doe, Manager
Small Town Grocery
12 Main St.
Anytown, USA

Dear Mr. Doe:

I am writing to request that Small Town Grocery reconsider the sale of live lobsters.

Lobsters kept in tanks suffer from stress associated with confinement, low oxygen levels, and overcrowding. Additionally, these sea animals do not have automated nervous systems to put them into a state of shock when they are harmed. Therefore, marine biologists theorize that they feel every second of pain inflicted upon them before their death.

According to Dr. Jaren G. Horsley, an invertebrate zoologist at the National Zoo, lobsters have a “sophisticated nervous system” and feel “a great deal of pain” when cut or cooked alive.

Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., who have been studying lobsters for more than 20 years, have found them to be unique and fascinating animals. They’ve found, for instance, that lobsters use complicated signals to establish social relationships. They take long-distance seasonal journeys, can travel more than 100 miles in a year, and can live to be more than 150 years old—if they survive the world’s most devastating predator: humans.

I urge you to consider this information and adopt a policy prohibiting the sale of live animals. There are far more customers who are saddened by the sight of lobsters in a tank than there are who would buy them. I hope to hear from you soon regarding this important issue. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Jane Smith