A lobster in the U.K. didn't get the death penalty, but he did get 30 years to life. A 3-foot-long lobster was caught by an angler fishing for sole off the British coast in West Sussex. The lobster is believed to be around 50 years old and is one is of the biggest and oldest lobsters ever caught in Britain. 
 

He was "rescued" from the garlic butter and sent to live the rest of his potentially 80-year lifespan in captivity at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth, England. Somehow, I don't think that he's happy about the move.

Did we learn nothing at all from Sebastian of Little Mermaid fame? "Darling, it's better down where it's wetter, under the sea."

Written by Michelle Sherrow

nickarebi/cc by 2.0

Vegan soccer club chair Dale Vince has given red meat the red card, saying that it will no longer be served at the Forest Green Rovers Football Club stadium in Gloucestershire, England.

Vince, who runs green electricity company Ecotricity, first stopped serving red meat to players in order to improve their health and performance. He extended the policy to the whole stadium to make the football club more environmentally friendly. Vince says that the stadium's chefs have added delicious new options to the menu and that he doesn't think the red meat will be missed. With offerings such as yummy veggie burgers on the menu, we don't think so either.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

UPDATE: Mary Bale has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty.

Picture this: A middle-aged woman walks down a residential sidewalk. A friendly cat jumps up on a ledge. The woman stops, pets the cat, and … looks for the cat's guardians? Keeps on walking? No. She pushes the cat to a trash bin, slams the lid, and strolls quickly away.

You don't have to picture it, because the whole sickening scene, which happened in Coventry, England, was caught on a security camera video. The cat, named Lola, spent 15 hours trapped in the bin on a hot day, terrified and eventually covered in her own waste, before her guardians heard her faint cries and rescued her. The woman has been identified.

Lola's ordeal is a prime example of why letting our cats roam outdoors unattended isn't doing them any favors. Cruel people, as well as traffic, poison, aggressive animals, disease, and countless other dangers lurk outside our doors. For tips on keeping cats content in the "great indoors," check out PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk's book 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Claire Parker outraged animal protectionists worldwide with her gruesome, cruel method of making "mad money." Parker, a mother of three, held dogfights in the garage of her Kexby home in England. She and her husband, a convicted drug dealer who died earlier this year in prison, would offer beer and sandwiches for dogfighters who attended the bloodbaths, where dogs would maul each other for up to an hour at a time, all as part of one of Europe's largest dogfighting operations.

We're happy to report that Parker and three of her cohorts are headed to the slammer.

PETA Europe urged the presiding judge, Richard Blake, to throw the book at Parker and the others. It asked that the defendants never again be allowed to own animals and that they receive the maximum jail sentences and attend mandatory psychological evaluations and counseling. Now Parker has been sentenced to 18 weeks in prison and is banned from keeping animals for 10 years. The others received jail sentences ranging from 23 to 28 weeks.

One former special forces soldier who infiltrated the operation reported that one dog was so badly injured that he looked like his face had been blown off by a shotgun. That dog, like many others, died from his injuries.

Judge Blake noted, "There's widespread public objection at these sorts of offences; of the sadistic abuse of animals for entertainment." I'd say that's putting it mildly.

Written by Karin Bennett