Animal rescue stories always make people feel good, but usually they involve furry ones with cute faces. This one is about a plain ugly crustacean, a crayfish who escaped both his destiny as someone’s dinner and an accidental disposal.
Pinchy, as it’s been named after an unfortunate lobster in a Simpsons episode, has ended up an honored guest and possible future star at the Sea Life Aquarium in Sydney, which is having its first post-Covid visitors on Sept. 30.
Pinchy came from a Western Australia fish farm, part of a shipment packed in styrofoam and ice and headed for a restaurant in Sydney. Fate first intervened when a restaurant worker missed one last crayfish while emptying and discarding the styrofoam container.
Fate intervened again when a couple working for the refuse disposal company spotted Pinchy and realized he was alive, but dehydrated. They poured a couple of gallons of mineral water into the container and watched him perk up.
And then, when their families were thinking of a fate that involved boiling and butter, they decided to call the aquarium, where the animal rescue center took over, putting him in a healthy environment: a tank with yabbies, six lungfish, archerfish, spotted gars and snakehead turtles. Officials say everyone gets on well.
