Sales of Decapod Crustaceans
Live animals like crabs and lobsters (decapod crustaceans) are sold to the public in the UK every day. This involves them being slaughtered in the consumer’s home often without proper training or knowledge of how to kill them humanely.
There is legislation in place under The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations 2015 which states that ‘No person may engage in the restraint, stunning or killing of an animal unless that person has the knowledge and skill necessary to perform those operations humanely and efficiently’ and decapods are protected under this law, but the live sales continue.
Decapods feel pain
Even though decapods are recognised as sentient and able to feel pain, joy, and suffering they are still being sold to untrained people to kill.
Even the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) whose job it should be to ensure the best welfare practices have abdicated responsibility, instead instructing people to look on the internet for tips on how to kill these animals.
If the Shellfish Association of Great Britain are unable to give clear and proper instructions on how to humanely kill these animals, then they shouldn’t be sold to the public.
Stop selling live decapods to the public
Crustacean Compassion believes decapods must be stunned effectively, followed by mechanical killing, before they are cooked. These steps required for humane slaughter must be carried out by a trained professional, and so it is therefore not possible for an untrained consumer to humanely slaughter crabs and lobsters at home, without causing extreme suffering. Putting them in boiling water is one of the methods promoted online but it can take minutes for lobsters and crabs to die.
In the recent benchmark report The Snapshot, which looked at the decapod welfare policies of major supermarkets, only M&S, the Co-op, Morrisons and Waitrose had made a firm commitment to not sell live decapods to the public or untrained handlers. We need all supermarkets in the UK to commit to the same policy.
Recent polling we did with the public demonstrated that animal welfare policies are what makes a brand or retailer appear more ethical? Over 80% believe they should be able to trust their supermarket to have high welfare standards in place for ALL sentient animals, and over 50% say they don’t believe live sales should continue versus 33% who disagree.
We are calling on Sainsburys and Aldi to update their animal welfare policies for decapods and commit to Not Sell Live Decapods to the Public and you can help us.
We are writing to the CEOs of the supermarkets to make that commitment and we are urging you to tweet them asking the same, especially if you shop with that supermarket.
Update
Thanks to your support on our Supermarket Campaign!
It’s only Sainsburys and Aldi that haven’t made the commitment to Not Sell Live Decapods to the Public. We’ve written to the CEOs of each supermarket and the people in charge of sustainability and animal welfare. You’ve written to their customer services teams on X and sent letters. We now have commitment from M&S, the Co-Op, Morrisons, Waitrose, Tesco, Lidl and Ocado.
Please if you shop at Sainsbury's or Aldi and you’re on X (Twitter) can you message them @sainsburys @aldiUK and ask them to make the commitment.
With your help we are improving animal welfare for billions of sentient crabs, lobsters, langoustines, prawns, and other decapods.
Take Action
You can contact them via X (Twitter)
Sainsbury's @sainsburys
Aldi @AldiUK
Alternatively, you can easily download, sign and hand in letters to each supermarket:
Please follow us at @crab_welfare and retweet our messages
Find out what is required for an animal to be considered able to feel pain, and how decapods meet these requirements.
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The online sale of live decapods is sadly not the only welfare issue facing these fascinating but vulnerable animals.