Bill introduced as part of government’s first of a kind Action Plan for Animal Welfare.Animal Sentience Committee will put animal sentience at heart of government policy.Government introduces Bill to formally recognise animals as sentient beings.The science is now clear that crustaceans and molluscs can feel pain and therefore it is only right they are covered by this vital piece of legislation.”Īlthough decapod crustaceans and cephalopods have complex central nervous systems, one of the key hallmarks of sentience, up until now they have not been recognised under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. “The Animal Welfare Sentience Bill provides a crucial assurance that animal wellbeing is rightly considered when developing new laws.

“The UK has always led the way on animal welfare and our Action Plan for Animal Welfare goes even further by setting out our plans to bring in some of the strongest protections in the world for pets, livestock and wild animals. It also includes suggestions for best practices for transport, stunning and slaughter.Īnimal Welfare Minister Lord Goldsmith said: It recommends against declawing, nicking, eyestalk ablation, the sale of live decapod crustaceans to untrained, non-expert handlers, and extreme slaughter methods such as live boiling without stunning. The review also evaluated the potential welfare implications of current commercial practices involving these animals. One way the UK can lead on animal welfare is by protecting these invertebrate animals that humans have often completely disregarded.' “The amendment will also help remove a major inconsistency: octopuses and other cephalopods have been protected in science for years, but have not received any protection outside science until now. After reviewing over 300 scientific studies, we concluded that cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans should be regarded as sentient, and should therefore be included within the scope of animal welfare law. 'I'm pleased to see the government implementing a central recommendation of my team's report. The review drew on over 300 existing scientific studies to evaluate evidence of sentience in cephalopods (including octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) and decapods (including crabs, lobsters and crayfish).ĭr Jonathan Birch, Associate Professor at LSE’s Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and Principal Investigator on the Foundations of Animal Sentience project, said: This move follows the findings of a government-commissioned independent review led by Dr Jonathan Birch.

The UK government has today confirmed that the scope of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill will be extended to all decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs. Octopuses, crabs and lobsters will receive greater welfare protection in UK law following an LSE report which demonstrates that there is strong scientific evidence that these animals have the capacity to experience pain, distress or harm.

Lobster sentience