Boiling lobsters while they are alive and conscious will be banned as part of a government strategy to improve animal welfare in England.

Government ministers say that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans and alternative guidance will be published.

The practice is already illegal in Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand. Animal welfare charities say that stunning lobsters with an electric gun or chilling them in cold air or ice before boiling them is more humane.

    • KiloGex@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      Correct. Scientists have done studies on vibrations from plants and they have a reaction to being cut and pulled that could be equated to a “pain” response.

      • Spacenut@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        Let’s suppose that you actually genuinely care about reducing the amount of plant suffering in the world. If this is the case, surely you would be vegan, because 3/4 of our total agricultural land is used to grow plants to support animal agriculture. (Since grass feels pain just like soybeans do, this includes pasture land.) So far fewer plants would be killed if everyone was vegan.

        Of course, you don’t actually live your life in a manner consistent with believing plants feel pain. I don’t think anyone would think twice about swerving into some flowers to avoid a dog in the street for fear of causing suffering to the flowers.

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              7 hours ago

              much of what animals eat are parts of plants people can’t or won’t eat. I don’t actually believe any fewer plants would be harmed if people were vegan.

                • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  6 hours ago

                  if I grow a plant like corn, and I eat the kernels, and feed the cobs, stalk and ruffage to a cow, only one plant is harmed.

                  • EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com
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                    2 hours ago

                    While this likely pans out with historical methods of meat production, alongside historical quantities of meat consumption, it breaks down when scaled up.

                    This would signal towards a reduced meat consumption across a population. On an individual level, removing meat from the diet would be beneficial to offset those who aren’t reducing.

                  • BigAssFan@lemmy.world
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                    5 hours ago

                    Thing is, cattle is also fed with corn. Lots of it. More than you could eat yourself, compared to meat consumption.