Octopuses, lobsters and crabs are sentient creatures that need to be protected, UK says

“The Animal Welfare Sentiment Bill provides an important assurance that the health of animals is properly considered when formulating new legislation. The science is now clear that scavengers and animals cephalopod can feel pain and therefore it is right that they are protected by this important piece of legislation,” said Animal Welfare Minister Lord Zac Goldsmith. in a statement.

The bill, which is not yet a law, would establish an Animal Sentiment Committee, which would produce reports on how government decisions have taken into account the welfare of sentient animals. This is part of the government’s broader Action Plan on Animal welfare.

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The report used eight different ways to measure resilience including learning ability, possession of pain receptors, connections between pain receptors and certain brain regions, response response to anesthetics. or pain medication, and behaviors that include balancing threat with opportunity for reward and protection against injury or threat.

It found “very strong” evidence for submission in octopuses and “strong” evidence in most crab. For other animals in these two groups, such as squid, cuttlefish and lobsters, they found the evidence to be substantial but not strong.

However, the report said the The different levels of evidence reflect the disparities in the amount of attention different animals have received from scientists.

“Scientific attention has been focused on some (animals) rather than others for reasons of practical convenience (e.g. which animals can be grown well in a laboratory) and geography (e.g. what species are available where the laboratory is located) Given this situation, we consider it inappropriate to limit protection to specific orders of cephalopod species or organisms decapod-specific infrastructure,” the report said.