Lobster pain: A hot topic — Feb. 18
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In February, scientists at Norway’s University of Oslo issued a 39-page report concluding that “it is unlikely that [lobsters and crabs] can feel pain.”
The Norwegian government paid for the study because it was considering revising its animal-welfare law to include “creatures with no backbone.”
Largely because of the study’s conclusions, lobsters still are not covered by Norway’s animal protection laws, says Anton Krag, a biologist with the Norwegian Animal Welfare Alliance. Chefs throughout the country can continue to boil them alive, legally — as they do in the U.S., despite, as Maine native and amateur chef Chris Curry told Tempo in February, they squirm and cry “Eek — like a little high-pitched squeak” as they go into the steaming pot.
However, Norwegian animal activists did succeed in protecting one squeaky animal: piglets. Beginning in 2009, Norway will become the first country in the world to ban piglet castration. Until then, farmers are required to use local anesthesia before cutting off the piglets’ testicles.