Some Slaughter Beach residents are pushing back in response to an animal rights organization’s request to change the town’s historic name.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent Slaughter Beach Mayor Harry Ward a letter on Tuesday, asking if he would consider changing the town’s name to “Sanctuary Beach” before horseshoe crab spawning season ends. PETA also issued a press release.
“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,” wrote PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.
Newkirk added, “This imagery is quite contrary to your reputation as a family-friendly sanctuary town.”
How the town got its name remains uncertain, but some residents say it likely came from the town’s first postmaster, whose last name was Slaughter. It has been named Slaughter Beach ever since the town was founded in 1681 and incorporated in 1931.
Slaughter Beach has about 240 permanent residents and 300 homes, Mayor Ward said.
If the town were to change its name, Ward says it would require a referendum. Though PETA is offering to help purchase new signage, Ward says he won’t seriously consider the change unless it is what the Slaughter Beach community wants.
“But I for one have no desire to consider anything that an outside organization might try and shove down our throats,” Ward said.
And so far, it doesn’t seem to be what the community wants. Ward says since PETA sent the letter and press release Tuesday, he has received at least 25 emails reacting negatively to PETA’s request and asking him to keep Slaughter Beach’s name as is.
Resident Bill McSpadden has lived in town on and off for 60 years — a third generation homeowner who resides in his grandparents’ home. He says for a town that is a nationally certified wildlife community and attracts thousands of spawning horseshoe crabs each year, “what’s in a name?”
“Slaughter Beach doesn’t have a negative connotation to me because I know what it’s about,” McSpadden said.
McSpadden called PETA’s request “unnecessary” and “outlandish.”
“You’re basically taking a family name off the town,” McSpadden said. “I don’t see the necessity in doing that. We know what we’re doing down here. We’ve been doing it for years. We embrace our wildlife, we embrace our ecosystem.”
Residents from the Town of Slaughter Beach banded together to have Slaughter Beach declared a horseshoe crab sanctuary in 2004.
In 2015, the town was designated a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. It is one of three Delaware communities to receive this designation.
This story has been updated.
