is it cruelty to animals to drop a live lobster into a boiling pot of water?

The decision to include decapods as sentient animals was founded on the research of biologist Robert Elwood, who has demonstrated over the past decade that these creatures exhibit “responses consistent with the idea of pain.” The professor emeritus at Queen’s University Belfast says it’s impossible to definitively prove how an animal (or person) feels. But in his experiments, prawns rubbed their antennae after exposure to irritants, while hermit crabs abandoned protective shelters — and even their own shells — to avoid shocks. In short, they acted like they were in pain and learned to evade its source.

The new British legislation — which mirrors laws in Spain, parts of Australia, and other regions — means that scientists experimenting on lobsters and crabs will likely need an ethical committee to approve of their work and consider the animals’ well-being.