Call to ban boiling lobsters alive in Britain after Swiss ban ‘cruel’ practice

A leading crustacean expert has said that lobsters show signs that they experience pain, just like mammals – and that the UK should ban boiling the creatures alive.

Professor Robert Elwood made the comments after Switzerland became the first company to ban the cooking method.

Professor Elwood says the move is ‘sensible’ given the response of lobsters to pain in an interview with the Independent.

The Swiss law means that lobsters have to be stunned before being boiled, and that lobsters can’t be transported on ice.

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Elwood says, I see no rationale for this different treatment in the UK and it is good to see the Swiss making sensible decisions based on evidence. I suspect that other countries will follow the available evidence.

‘Decapods learn to avoid a place in which they receive electric shock remarkably quickly.

‘They will engage in prolonged rubbing of specific body areas that are subject to chemical or electrical stimuli, indicating an awareness. They will give up valuable resources to get away from shock.’