All cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans should be protected by the UK’s animal welfare laws, according to a major study into animal sentience.
Experts at the London School of Economics (LSE) have reviewed over 300 scientific papers to assess whether cephalopods (such as octopuses and squid) and decapod crustaceans (such as crabs and lobsters) are sentient. They found particularly strong evidence of sentience in octopuses, lobsters and crabs. This is important because sentience refers to a living being’s capacity to experience feelings, such as pain, pleasure, and joy.
Crucially, sentient beings are capable of suffering
As a result of these findings, the report calls for all cephalopods and decapod crustaceans to be protected by the UK’s animal welfare laws. At the moment, many of these laws protect only vertebrates, which includes mammals, birds and fish. Cephalopods and decapod crustaceans are invertebrates.
We welcome the Government’s recent announcement that it will now include cephalopods and decapod crustaceans in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
We now want to see amendments to existing animal welfare laws
One law that does already provide some protection to cephalopods is the Animals in Scientific Procedures Act 1986 (ASPA). This is the main law that regulates the use of animals in experiments in the UK. All cephalopods have been included in ASPA since 2012, but decapod crustaceans used in animal experiments in the UK are entirely unprotected. The report by LSE says that this should change.
In light of the evidence of their sentience, the Government must act now to include decapod crustaceans in ASPA. But this is not enough. ASPA is flawed and must be overhauled. We want the Government to:
- Increase transparency by repealing section 24 of ASPA, which shrouds animal experiments in secrecy;
- Introduce ambitious targets to replace the use of animals in research; and,
- Publish an official deadline for finally ending the use of animals in experiments in the UK.
Show your support by signing our petition asking the UK Government to call time on animal testing.
Written by Natalie Harney, Campaign Manager
