On Wednesday 12 October, the Crustacean Compassion team headed to No.10 Downing Street to deliver a letter to the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss. The letter calls for the government to commit to protecting animals like crabs, lobsters, prawns and nephrops (decapod crustaceans).
Earlier this year decapods were included in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act. This is the first time they have been officially recognised as being capable of feeling pain in law. Although this was a massive step in the right direction, the Sentience Act itself does not impose any codes of practice to change how decapods are treated. Instead, the inclusion of decapods in the Sentience Act means that their welfare must be considered in future policy decisions.
The previous government had committed to reviewing current animal welfare legislation with consideration of the Sentience Act. Unfortunately, the new government, led by Lis Truss, has not yet made such a commitment.
It is crucial that the new government commits to improving animal welfare and reviewing animal welfare legislation now that decapods are officially sentient.
You can help! Alongside our letter, you can send a pre-written email to Prime Minister Liz Truss asking her to prioritise animal welfare. Take action now:
We were also joined at No.10 by Larry the Downing Street cat who appears to support the cause!
