{"id":120444,"date":"2021-11-21T00:42:52","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T06:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120444"},"modified":"2021-11-20T04:40:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T11:40:17","slug":"now-a-ban-on-boiling-live-lobsters-is-a-step-closer-as-ministers-recognise-crustaceans-as-sentient-beings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/21\/now-a-ban-on-boiling-live-lobsters-is-a-step-closer-as-ministers-recognise-crustaceans-as-sentient-beings\/","title":{"rendered":"Now a ban on boiling live lobsters is a step closer as ministers recognise crustaceans as sentient beings"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>By&nbsp;HELENA HORTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>The Government has recognised crabs, octopus and lobsters as sentient beings<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>A report for ministers confirmed evidence of&nbsp;sentience in decapod crustaceans<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>It recommended that they should be included in animal protection legislation&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A ban on boiling lobsters alive came closer yesterday after the Government recognised crabs, octopus and lobsters as sentient beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An amendment to the Animal Welfare Bill currently going through Parliament was tabled which makes it illegal to cause needless harm and suffering to invertebrate animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It came after a report for ministers by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/london\/index.html\">London<\/a>&nbsp;School of Economics confirmed there is strong scientific evidence of sentience in decapod crustaceans, such as crab and lobster, and cephalopod molluscs, octopus and squid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2021\/11\/20\/00\/50728655-10223443-image-m-92_1637369304835.jpg\" alt=\"Stunning lobsters with an electric gun or by chilling them in cold air or ice before boiling is a more humane method, according to animal welfare charities\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Stunning lobsters with an electric gun or by chilling them in cold air or ice before boiling is a more humane method, according to animal welfare charities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It recommended that they should be included in animal protection legislation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There had previously been much debate over whether lobsters and crabs have feelings similar to vertebrates \u2013 animals that have a backbone \u2013 as they have different nervous systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The amendment published on the Government\u2019s website read: \u2018This amendment adds cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans to the definition of animal\u201d for the purposes of the Bill.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This would make it an offence for any person who is responsible for a kept animal \u2013 including crabs and lobsters \u2013 to cause it unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for the animal\u2019s welfare needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) insists this will have no impact on restaurant kitchens, campaigners could use the new law to argue in court for a ban on boiling the animals alive in eateries as they say there are less painful ways to kill them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2021\/11\/20\/00\/50728647-10223443-image-m-94_1637369354752.jpg\" alt=\"An amendment to the Animal Welfare Bill currently going through Parliament was tabled which makes it illegal to cause needless harm and suffering to invertebrate animals\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>An amendment to the Animal Welfare Bill currently going through Parliament was tabled which makes it illegal to cause needless harm and suffering to invertebrate animals<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is currently illegal to do this in Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stunning lobsters with an electric gun or by chilling them in cold air or ice before boiling is a more humane method, according to animal welfare charities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But restaurateurs are unlikely to be impressed by the new law, which may make them subject to checks by Defra and, if a ban does come into effect, could criminalise those who kill the lobsters in a traditional way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move has been pushed for by animal welfare minister Lord Goldsmith and the Prime Minister\u2019s wife Carrie Johnson \u2013 who are patrons of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lord Goldsmith said: \u2018The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill provides a crucial assurance that animal wellbeing is rightly considered when developing new laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018The science is now clear that crustaceans and molluscs can feel pain and therefore it is only right they are covered by this vital piece of legislation.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By&nbsp;HELENA HORTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL The Government has recognised crabs, octopus and lobsters as sentient beings A report for ministers confirmed evidence of&nbsp;sentience in decapod crustaceans It recommended that they should be included in animal protection legislation&nbsp; A ban on boiling lobsters alive came closer yesterday after the Government recognised crabs, octopus and lobsters [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crimes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}