Our extremely sensitive British cousins have struck a blow for humanity. Or, rather, for lobsterdom: “Boiling live lobsters to be banned under animal rights reforms.”
In its animal welfare strategy, published on Monday, the government said that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method”, while also setting out new farming standards and banning trail hunting.
The strategy, which sets out a series of protections for pets, farmed animals and wild animals, said the government would publish guidance on the best way to kill decapod crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters and prawns.
I would have thought that being plunged into boiling water would be a pretty humane way to kill a lobster. You are going to cook him, after all. But Britain’s government has other ideas:
Other methods of dispatching shellfish include electrocution or freezing to stun them before boiling them. Suppliers and restaurateurs warned that electrical stunning devices cost about £3,500.
Is being electrocuted more humane than being dropped into boiling water? I would think they are about equivalent. And freezing to death is better than being boiled, for a lobster? Boiling is certainly a lot quicker.
A churlish individual might suggest that the British government’s outburst of empathy is misplaced. Where were they when thousands of teen and pre-teen girls were being raped (still are being raped) by Muslim men, while the authorities looked the other way? I suppose a Labour minister might respond that at least the girls were not being boiled alive. True enough. But it would be nice to see such exquisite sensitivity devoted to human beings rather than crustaceans.
And one more thing: who wants to tell them about oysters?
