Victory for lobsters and crabs!

The UK government has finally recognised that it is illegal to boil lobsters and crabs alive. This is a huge victory for animals.

In the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, decapod crustaceans, such as lobsters and crabs, were recognised as sentient, meaning they experience pain. This was a landmark moment in the fight for increased protections for crustaceans.

In 2023, shortly after launching, The Animal Law Foundation was the first to take the bold step of taking the position that since their recognition of sentience it was no longer possible to legally boil these animals alive.

The Animal Law Foundation reached its conclusion due to the incompatibility between boiling these animals alive and the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations 2015, which prohibits avoidable pain and suffering at the time of killing. The Animal Law Foundation recognised that now they were seen as sentient it could no longer be argued they did not experience pain during this process, the pain is also wholly avoidable.

This systemic illegality that affects millions of animals and exposes them to horrific pain is one of the reasons why The Animal Law Foundation exists. As soon as the recognition of sentience was announced, our founder Edie started to approach several groups with the legal argument that they could no longer be boiled alive to see if they wanted to take on the legal battle, but no one did. Whilst the reasons were completely understandable e.g. legal battles are expensive and hard, groups may already have their campaigning objectives set etc, Edie immediately knew an organisation was needed to monitor the interpretation and application of animal welfare law, and bring legal challenges where necessary.

Following the recognition, the government issued a press release, which stated “[the recognition of sentience] will not affect any existing legislation or industry practices…”. We have repeatedly put our argument to the government and challenged the claim it made in its press release.

We have been on the cusp of legal action against the government for two years. We have also continuously put pressure on local authorities, who are responsible for enforcing the law, to recognise our correct interpretation of the law: it is illegal to boil these animals alive. Whilst we have had some success with local authorities, including one live investigation regarding the killing of a lobster, what was holding us back was the government’s position.

After two years, our efforts have paid off and our interpretation has proven to be correct. The government has acknowledged in its Animal Welfare Strategy that it is not lawful to boil crabs and lobsters alive. This success will protect so many lobsters and crabs who are in desperate need of this acknowledgement to stop an agonising death.