There is also no detail on how the committee will be appointed, financed or constituted, so it could end up stuffed with government or industry-aligned figures who lack either the independence or expertise to effectively scrutinise policy. The Bill does establish an Animal Sentience Committee, which will report on how government policies affect animal welfare and can recommend changes.īut the Government is only obliged to respond to this advice – it has no responsibility to actually implement any of it. The researchers wrote that “invertebrates should be treated in the same way as vertebrates” and called for an end to the boiling of lobsters, asphyxiating of octopuses and dismembering of crabs. Injured octopuses learned to prefer an alternative chamber where anaesthetic was available.īut decapods also displayed compelling signs of sentience, with crayfish showing signs of anxiety when encountering an electric field but then responding to an anti-anxiety drug. Injection with acid in their preferred chamber led to octopuses avoiding it afterwards. In one study, they were given three chambers to explore. The strongest evidence for sentience was found in octopuses. They looked at evidence about the animals’ nervous system, and also considered whether they could trade-off risks of injury against opportunities for a reward, whether they tended to injuries, and whether they valued painkillers. It found that seven in 10 thefts involved dogs, with evidence that there had been about 2,000 dog theft crimes reported to police last year.Ī survey for the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association in March suggested that 2.1 million people had acquired a new pet during the Covid-19 lockdown and 1.2 million planned to get one.Before this new law comes into force, five researchers were commissioned by the Government to find out the likelihood of sentience – the capacity to have feelings such as pain and pleasure – in two groups of invertebrate animals: the cephalopod molluscs (including octopuses, cuttlefishes and squids) and decapod crustaceans (including lobsters, crabs and prawns).

The move is based on the recommendations made by the Pet Theft Taskforce which the government set up in May to examine the issue. This comes months after the British government said that it is planning to make pet abduction an offence.

It is currently under debate in the United Kingdom.

The bill, when it becomes law, will establish an animal sentience committee made up of experts from within the field. The science is now clear that decapods and cephalopods can feel pain and therefore it is only right they are covered by this vital piece of legislation,' animal welfare minister Lord Zac Goldsmith said in a statement. 'The Animal Welfare Sentience Bill provides a crucial assurance that animal wellbeing is rightly considered when developing new laws. Vertebrates - animals with a backbone - are already classified as sentient under the new legislation. It also suggested best practices for their transport, stunning and slaughter. The report further said that lobsters and crabs shouldn't be boiled alive. They studied more than 300 species for the study before concluding that cephalopods (such as octopuses) and decapods (such as crabs and lobsters) should be treated as sentient beings, according to CNN. The report has been prepared by experts at the London School of Economics (LSE). The review has recommended protection for these species under new animal welfare laws. This comes after an independent review commissioned by the UK government concluded that there is strong scientific evidence decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs are sentient. The UK government has declared octopuses, crabs and lobsters as 'sentient beings', meaning they have some amount of consciousness and are capable of experiencing pain or suffering.

Crab sentience