Ban Live Sales of Decapod Crustaceans
Every day in the UK animals like crabs, lobsters, prawns and crayfish are sold alive to be killed and cooked at home.
This causes extreme pain and suffering to these fragile, sentient animals.
In shops, markets and fishmongers around the UK they are closely packed together, with their claws tightly banded,
out of water or often on ice which can cause suffocation, injury and even death.
Live crabs have even been found for sale packaged and bound in shrink-wrapped plastic.
Once purchased, they may be taken to the consumers home in just a plastic bag,
with no protection for their delicate limbs, where they may be handled, stored, and slaughtered
through inappropriate - and painful - means.
They could be carved up into pieces while fully conscious. Or boiled alive.
It is estimated that a brown crab boiled alive may remain conscious for up to three minutes, something which would be considered completely unacceptable in a vertebrate animal like a pig or chicken.
We wouldn't expect people to be able to buy ANY other live animals to kill at home
and we are asking for equal protection for crustaceans.
Together let’s stop the live sales of decapods to the public!
Sign the petition to
end live sales
Decapods likes crabs, lobsters and prawns experience pain, joy and suffering like other sentient animals. But they are not protected by UK legislation like other sentient animals.
We don't think this is right! They should not be sold alive to be inhumanely killed by untrained members of the public.
Help us prevent this unacceptable suffering and sign our petition calling for an end to the live sale of decapod crustaceans!
Email London Local Authorities
In London, live lobsters and crabs are still being sold in markets and shops, only to be killed at home by untrained individuals - often by being boiled alive. This is despite legal protections under the Welfare at Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015, which require animals to be killed humanely by trained people.
Shockingly, many London Boroughs are unaware they’re responsible for enforcing these rules.
We're calling on every Borough to ban the sale of live decapod crustaceans on council-owned land and to stop the live sale of these animals to the public. These animals deserve the same protection as any other - and it starts with local action.