Researchers looked for eight specific neurological and behavioral criteria that indicate sentience, such as the ability to learn and feel pain. Photo Credit: Diego Delso

Animals United Kingdom9. January 2022

These Invertebrates Will Be Better Protected

By recognizing invertebrate animals like lobsters, crabs, and octopi as sentient beings – or beings with consciousness – the government of the United Kingdom is taking a step in the right direction towards better protecting these species.

“The science is now clear that [these animals] can feel pain and therefore it is only right they are covered by this vital piece of legislation,” says Lord Zac Goldsmith, Animal Welfare Minister.

The U.K.’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill will include octopi, crabs, and lobsters once it is passed into law. The original bill wholly included vertebrates and left invertebrates out. Upon reviewing some 300 different studies to find evidence that these animals are sentient, cephalopods — a group of mollusk that includes squids, octopi, and cuttlefish — and decapods — a type of crustacean including crabs, lobsters, and shrimp — have been identified as sentient beings as they meet specific neurological and behavioral criteria like the ability to learn, to feel pain, to respond to anesthetics, and to consider threat vs. opportunity. Recommendations will be made to improve practices and reduce animal cruelty, and suffering.

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