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Full Version: UK: octopuses, crabs, & lobsters will be recognized as 'sentient beings'
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https://www.businessinsider.com/octopuse...uk-2021-11

EXCERPTS: Octopuses, crabs, and lobsters will be recognized as sentient beings under UK animal welfare laws after a review concluded there is strong evidence they are capable of feelings.

[...] The announcement said the bill "already recognizes all animals with a backbone (vertebrates) as sentient beings. However, unlike some other invertebrates (animals without a backbone), decapod crustaceans and cephalopods have complex central nervous systems, one of the key hallmarks of sentience."

[...] The review, published this month, found there was "strong evidence" that such animals are sentient, which the review defines as having "the capacity to have feelings, such as feelings of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort and excitement."

[...] The report also made specific recommendations on animal welfare practices based on its findings, including:
  • Banning the declawing of crabs
  • Banning the sale of live crabs and lobsters to "untrained, non-expert handlers"
  • Banning the following slaughter methods when a viable alternative exists and when electrical stunning is not done first: boiling alive and live dismemberment
[...] In the announcement, the UK government said it would "not affect any existing legislation or industry practices such as fishing. There will be no direct impact on the shellfish catching or restaurant industry. Instead, it is designed to ensure animal welfare is well considered in future decision-making." (MORE - missing details)
Doesn't bode well for the crab and lobster boiling industry.
Must be tough for some people to watch an octopus stalk, catch and eat a crab.
(Nov 24, 2021 05:02 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: [ -> ]Must be tough for some people to watch an octopus stalk, catch and eat a crab.
True. It's just lack of education. One day octopuses (octopi?) will learn that eating vegetables is the way forward.
(Nov 24, 2021 08:27 PM)confused2 Wrote: [ -> ]
(Nov 24, 2021 05:02 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: [ -> ]Must be tough for some people to watch an octopus stalk, catch and eat a crab.
True. It's just lack of education. One day octopuses (octopi?) will learn that eating vegetables is the way forward.

Next thing you know, devouring sentient lobsters will have you charged with murder/cannibalism.
I'm currently preparing my defence for killing a spider two weeks ago.
Normally I catch them and put them in next door's garden but this one was too fast. I should have run, I know I should have run but I didn't. Insanity?
In the US today, being sentient didn’t help the turkey.

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