Press Releases & Press Statements
07 April 2022
A monumental step for animal welfare was taken today (7 April 2022) in the House of Lords as the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill passed through its final stages to become law. The passing of this Bill is a historic moment for animal welfare as it marks the first-time animals like crabs, lobsters, prawns and nephrops (decapod crustaceans) are protected in law.
07 December 2021
It’s rare to hear about cross-party consensus in UK politics. However this has happened today [Monday] in the House of Lords and in relation to an unusual topic - crabs and lobsters.
The ten-legged crustaceans were discussed at length, with Lords agreeing to support a government amendment to declare that these animals are sentient creatures, with the ability to feel pain.
6 July 2021
Snappily dressed shellfish campaigners gathered outside the House of Lords today as Peers put forward amendments[i] to the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill to recognise that crabs and lobsters can feel pain. The move could see these animals given new legal protections, and means that restaurants and fishmongers could be banned from boiling crabs alive or sending live lobsters through the post.
14 February 2018
Michael Gove was presented with a petition today signed by over 35,000 people calling on Defra to “Show Lobsters Some Love”. The petition was presented as a giant Valentine’s Day card for Gove to sign in his capacity as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It was presented by Crustacean Compassion, the animal welfare organisation calling for the protection of decapod crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters in UK law, today (14 February)...
17 February 2017
Despite a marked increase in scientific evidence about the ability of decapod crustaceans to feel pain and suffer, there has been no government assessment of their welfare and no increase in protections for animals like crabs and lobsters, which in some shocking instances has resulted in them being left fully immobilised in plastic shrink-wrap on supermarket shelves in the UK...
