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New Report Brings Both Horror and Relief
It’s Official — Lobsters are Sentient, but What Happens Now?
It’s official — lobsters are sentient. A recent report commissioned by the UK Government and drawing on evidence from over 300 scientific papers concluded that lobsters, crabs, shrimps, crayfish and other crustaceans are not simply automatons, reacting unfeelingly to stimuli, but have an awareness of sensations… they feel pain… they suffer.
The study also looked at octopuses and squid and found that they, too, are sentient, although this is hardly a surprise to anyone who has taken the time to research octopus behaviour on even a rudimentary level. A quick Google search will reveal that octopuses are highly intelligent, with the ability to solve mazes and complex puzzles, use tools and even recognise individual human faces.
Why Is This Significant?
As a vegan animal rights campaigner, I’m used to people trying to justify the most horrific cruelty towards animals with the somewhat shallow and thoughtless response of ‘Yeah, but plants feel pain too’. Usually, that’s as far as it goes, but if any of them ever bother to do any research or quote any examples to back up this ridiculous assertion, the best they can come up with is that plants react to stimuli.
