The English Government has officially recognized octopuses and lobsters as sentient beings after the publication of a study that confirms that octopuses, squid, shrimp, lobsters and crabs have a complex central nervous system and are capable of experiencing pain, pleasure, hunger or thirst, something that calls into question commercial practices with these invertebrates such as boiling live lobsters, something that could be banned very soon.
The new study focused on the evidence of different ways of receiving pain, such as the possession of pain receptors and specific brain regions associated with pain, as well as behavioral experiments showing that these animals make decisions to avoid painful or stressful scenarios. .
“The science is now clear that decapods and cephalopods can feel pain and therefore it is only fair that they are covered by this vital law,” explains Lord Zac Goldsmith, UK’s minister for animal welfare, in a statement.
Thus, cephalopod mollusks (octopus, squid and cuttlefish) and decapod crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, shrimp and crayfish), will be included in the list of sentient beings, which means that their well-being will have to be considered when decisions are made. future governments on them.
What consequences will this bill bring?
It would make it a crime for anyone responsible for an animal in captivity, including crabs and lobsters, to cause it unnecessary suffering or fail to meet the animal’s welfare needs (such as boiling live animals in restaurants). In fact, this practice is currently illegal in Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand.
The measure has been promoted by the minister of animal welfare, Lord Goldsmith, and the wife of the prime minister, Carrie Johnson, who are patrons of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF).
