--- description: King Louie the humongous lobster has been pardoned, thanks to one Canadian woman who bought his freedom. title: A Canadian Vegan Bought a 23-Pound Lobster Just to Set it Free image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd72ec9a5f3776e6/6988b04b7cdbacbf5ad566f0/slack-for-ios-upload-1.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Canadian Vegan Bought a 23-Pound Lobster Just to Set it Free  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 1, 2016 4:04 PM CUT  “King Louie” the lobster rides on the back of a boat on his way to be set free after being saved by Katie Conklin in Alma, Canada. “King Louie” the lobster rides on the back of a boat on his way to be set free after being saved by Katie Conklin in Alma, Canada.Courtesy of Alma Lobster Shop  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 1, 2016 4:04 PM CUT King Louie [the humongous lobster](http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/giant-23-pound-lobster-caught-in-n-b-1.3180771 "undefined") has [been pardoned](http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.3180760 "undefined"), thanks to one Canadian woman who bought his freedom. Alma Lobster Shop in New Brunswick posted photos of the 23-pound lobster being sold online, prompting local media attention. Katie Conklin, a vegan from Nova Scotia, decided to spend 230 Canadian dollars (about $170 USD) and ask for [Louie to be set free](http://abcnews.go.com/International/woman-buys-23-pound-lobster-named-king-louie/story?id=43875593 "undefined"), _CTV_ reports. Fisherman Rodney MacDonald obliged on Tuesday, shouting “Thank you Katie!” as he plopped the lobster back into the water. “It went full circle,” Catherine MacDonald, an owner of the Alma Lobster Shop, [told Toronto’s _Metro News_](http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2016/11/29/massive-23-pound-lobster-caught-in-bay-of-fundy-could-be-100-years-old.html "undefined"). MacDonald said Louie could be 100 years old based on his size. \[[_CTV_](http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.3180760 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4587266/canada-lobster-vegan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4587266/canada-lobster-vegan/"},"headline":"A Canadian Vegan Bought a 23-Pound Lobster Just to Set it Free","datePublished":"2016-12-01T16:04:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:04.574Z","description":"The lobster, named \"King Louie,\" could be 100 years old","url":"https://time.com/4587266/canada-lobster-vegan/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd72ec9a5f3776e6/6988b04b7cdbacbf5ad566f0/slack-for-ios-upload-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd72ec9a5f3776e6/6988b04b7cdbacbf5ad566f0/slack-for-ios-upload-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"slack-for-ios-upload-1","caption":"“King Louie” the lobster rides on the back of a boat on his way to be set free after being saved by Katie Conklin in Alma, Canada.","creditText":"Courtesy of Alma Lobster Shop","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4587266/canada-lobster-vegan/","name":"A Canadian Vegan Bought a 23-Pound Lobster Just to Set it Free"}}]}] ```