Seafood Company Convicted Of Animal Cruelty For Improperly Killing Lobsters

I know that there’s no true “humane” way to kill a lobster. But the way this company was killing lobsters was shocking, to say the least.

Australian-based Nicholas Seafoods was caught killing lobsters in an illegal manner as part of the production process, according to the Washington Post. The company was found guilty of violating local animal cruelty laws in the New South Wales Area and punished with a $1500 fine.

What did they do, exactly? They were using a bandsaw to cut off the tails of the lobsters while they were still alive. Yikes.

The company was the first to be fined under the region’s lobster cruelty laws, and it’s possible that this incident is one of the first occurrences of a business being charged with a lobster-related cruelty crime in the world.

This may be because laws that protect lobsters don’t really exist globally. The United States, for example, doesn’t protect fish or crustaceans — including lobster — under its animal cruelty laws.

If you’re wondering how a lobster is “humanely” killed, some suggestions include electrically stunning or chilling the lobster before quickly ending its life with a single strike through the center of the lobster’s head and chest area with a knife.

Boiling a live lobster whole is NOT considered humane, so if you’re doing that, you may be the next one to be charged for lobster cruelty.