Restaurant stops serving 'dancing shrimp'

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Midtown Sacramento's Nishiki Sushi stopped selling live shrimp after dozens of people called in complaints to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Nishiki was serving the live shrimp bathed in cold sake, then encouraging customers to "squeeze lemon juice on their exposed flesh so they would writhe or 'dance' while being eaten alive," PETA campaign coordinator Amanda Fortino told The Sacramento Bee Thursday.

"Because we received so many calls, we contacted Nishiki and told them every animal feels pain, and we have the scientific evidence to back that up. They agreed to not sell the live shrimp anymore, and we really appreciate that," Fortino said.

PETA said a 2007 study in Northern Ireland found prawns "acted as if they had an injured paw when acid was dabbed onto an antenna" and "responded to numbing effects of painkillers."

"We were informed that it was unacceptable as far as animal cruelty. … People would normally get excited about them. It's kind of taken the wind out," Tony Malpartida, a bartender and manager at Nishiki, told the Bee.