People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked Ocean City officials to end the use of live hermit crabs in the city's Miss Crustacean Hermit Crab Beauty Pageant and Hermit Crab Races, proposing that organizers swap the animals for robotic or remote-controlled substitutes instead. In the letter, Newkirk wrote, "Attendees could even race robotic or remote-controlled crabs—and to ensure you're not left in a pinch, PETA would be happy to provide you with some." "Hermit crabs are not toys, trinkets, props, or pets," Newkirk wrote. The Miss Crustacean Hermit Crab Beauty Pageant and the Hermit Crab Races have run on Ocean City's Sixth Street beach since the 1970s and remain a fixture of the resort town's summer calendar. Ocean City markets itself as "America's Greatest Family Resort," and the crab pageant is among the quirky, family-oriented events that draw visitors to its boardwalk and beaches each August.