First it's fish, now it's cockroaches...

People Enjoying Tasty Animals ... oops! I mean, "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals", are not just grossed out, they're up in arms about the contest sponsored by Six Flags Great America:

TORONTO (Reuters) - An animal rights group called Tuesday for a North American theme park operator to cancel a competition in which people will try to break the world cockroach-eating record.

Theme park operator Six Flags Inc, based in New York, is staging the contest as part of a promotion leading up to Halloween in which it is also offering customers free entry or line-jumping advantages if they eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said it had been flooded with calls from children, adults and even anonymous employees of Six Flags opposing the record-breaking contest and the overall promotion.

"Insects do not deserve to be eaten alive especially for a gratuitous marketing gimmick," PETA spokeswoman Jackie Vergerio told Reuters.

Oh, gawd! Fish have feelings and bugs have rights. Cockroaches don't "deserve to be eaten alive!" Oh! The humanity!

I'd participate in this contest myself if it were, say, a steak-eating contest. Cockroaches? Maybe deep-fried and smothered in dark chocolate...