PETA asked mayor to change Slaughter Beach's name. He told them to 'stay in their lane'

The mayor of the tiny Delaware town of Slaughter Beach has a message for PETA: please mind your own business.

The prominent animal-rights group, whose acronym stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, sent the town's mayor a press release Monday encouraging the town to change its name from Slaughter Beach to the more "compassionate" Sanctuary Beach.

“This town’s grim name sounds at odds with its status as a certified wildlife habitat community, whereas ‘Sanctuary Beach’ feels really positive,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote in the news release. “PETA is encouraging Slaughter Beach to embrace a new name that celebrates saving lives rather than taking them.”

The group even offered to pay for new signage.

The town has already made animal protection a key part of its identity. Much of Slaughter Beach is a sanctuary for the horseshoe crab, and advertises the designation on its website. It even includes a horseshoe crab silhouette on its town symbol.

'“Sanctuary Beach' is a kind name honoring compassion and the preservation of life. It would reflect your efforts to provide a safe habitat for these magnificent, ancient animals and would no doubt be well received by residents and tourists alike," the news release from PETA said. "With the horseshoe crab already designated as your official town animal and Delaware’s official marine animal, it shorely makes sense to take it a step further and adopt the friendlier, more accurate Sanctuary Beach as your town’s new name. "

But Slaughter Beach Mayor Harry Ward told the Delaware State News PETA's request was “presumptuous, disrespectful and self-serving"

Ward told WXDE he thought the whole thing smelled more like a publicity stunt than a desire to help animals.

"If they had been serious about this whole attempt, they would have contacted the town and not simultaneously done a press release ... I would just ask PETA to stay in their lane," Ward said in an interview with the station.

The origin of the town's name is in dispute, but there is no indication it is connected to humans slaughtering animals, Ward told the Delaware State News.

“There’s a story that ties it to a slaughter of Native Americans that took place nearby hundreds of years ago. Another story connects it to the slaughter of horseshoe crabs on the beach — often in a year with high winds and waves, they flip as they come ashore and have a hard time righting themselves," he told the site. "But honestly, the most plausible story is that it was in named in honor of the original postmaster, whose last name was Slaughter."

In its release, PETA said it didn't matter what the town was actually named for.

"Whether the town is named after a stream, the slaughter of natives, or the tides that leave many horseshoe crabs stranded and vulnerable to the hot sun and predators, the term “slaughter” is defined as killing animals for food or killing people or animals in cruel and violent ways. Unfortunately, many people don’t look deeply into the origins of words and names, but that doesn’t diminish the negative connotations—especially for impressionable young minds—of a word like “slaughter,” which conjures up images of dead and dying animals," the group wrote.

PETA has made similar requests before. In 1996, the group asked the New York city of Fishkill to change its name to "Fishsave," according to CNN. It didn't happen. In 2007, it asked the Texas town of Turkey to change its name to 'Tofurky," according to the New York Daily News. That also didn't happen

Slaughter Beach Mayor Harry Ward told WXDE that PETA didn't know the history of the town and shouldn't butt in where it doesn't have experience.

"Just to assume some organization, miles away, with very little knowledge of our town, either its history, our culture, our background, would presume to know what's best for us is just ridiculous on its face," he told the station.

This story was originally published May 2, 2018 at 11:29 AM with the headline "PETA asked mayor to change Slaughter Beach's name. He told them to 'stay in their lane'."