Lobsters that end up on the plate will soon get there somewhat differently in England. The UK government on Monday announced plans to prohibit dropping live, conscious lobsters straight into boiling water, calling the method unacceptable and pledging new guidance on how crustaceans should be killed. Alternatives such as electrical stunning or freezing lobsters before cooking are expected to be promoted as more humane. The Financial Times reports the move builds on the UK's Conservatives' Animal Welfare Act, which in 2022 declared that crustaceans like crab and lobsters and cephalopods including squid and octopus are sentient and can feel pain.
The lobster measure is one piece of a broader Labour animal-welfare package unveiled Monday, which also includes phasing out cages for egg-laying hens and pig farrowing crates, clamping down on puppy farming, consulting on a ban on electric shock collars for dogs, and setting new humane slaughter standards for farmed fish. The plan also tightens rules around hunting. It would outlaw shooting hares during their breeding season and extend the existing foxhunting ban to cover trail hunting, in which hounds follow a pre-laid animal scent. Animal welfare groups say trail hunting is frequently used as cover for illegal fox kills.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage blasted the package as "authoritarian control freakery," and the Telegraph reports restaurateurs expressed frustration of their own, "accusing the Government of burdening businesses with more red tape at a time of rising wages and other costs," as the paper puts it. London restaurant owner James Chiavarini dismissed electrocution as "a ridiculous thing. What are we supposed to do—shove them in a plug socket? Honestly, what restaurant is going to actually electrocute the lobsters before boiling them?" The Guardian adds that similar bans on boiling live lobsters are already in place in Switzerland, Norway, and New Zealand.
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