Is It Cruel to Cook Shellfish and Crustaceans Alive?

This article discredits itself by using a comparison to cows being "shocked" before slaughter, and this "shock" allegedly numbing them. Cows are not shocked before slaughter. High voltage prods are used to move them into the slaughter chute, where they stand fully conscious until bludgeoned on the head. This hit causes them to lose consciousness for only 1-2 minutes, so they can be hoisted into the air by one leg. They are then butchered alive, conscious, as their beating hearts pump out their blood.

Some people errroneously believe large animals lose all consciousness during the intitial bludgeoning, due to use of a penetrating captive bolt gun to the forehead. Wrong. Only NON penetrating bolt guns are allowed in slaughter, as PENETRATING bolt guns push potential brain infections such as meningitis, into the spinal fluid and meat. Vets use the penetrating bolt gun for instant death. The NON penetrating is the only one allowed in meat production, and it only produces 1-2 minutes of numbness.

Please have your facts straight before approaching such a sensitive topic. Or any topic.

Actually, lots of animals kill other animals humanely, by going for their throat first to suffocate them.

Where is the evidence that putting them in the freezer makes it less inhumane? I'm not trolling, I eat them. I just want to get some stuff clear. This article takes a definite position when there really isn't one so I'm wondering if this is also just opinion. I'm not convinced they do feel actual pain as we understand it but I'm not convinced they don't either. Mainly because of the Belfast study (I think) where analgesics reduced their soothe behavior. But it is still far from really answering the question. In the mean time, I'd like to be as humane as I can. I'm more worried about the circumstances leading up to their death. They are treated horribly in those cramped cages. If you're gonna lop a lobster's head off, why stick it in the freezer? It's a pretty quick way to go. We don't even know if the freezer is terribly unpleasant. Just off it without the freezer. I've only ever heard the freezer suggestion as a way to make them less distressed for boiling.

There are some biological reasons why some crustaceans and shellfish must be alive when dispatched for cooking. The way I see it, there are animals out there that qualify as crops, mostly because there are millions of them and we run the food chain.

These creatures deserve to be dispatched as humanely as possible, but the bottom line is that if someone orders lobster at a seafood restaurant, something bad is going to happen in a holding tank soon. This is non-negotiable. Most of us probably don't really want to know how other crop animals are processed, either.

The question of shellfish is highly debatable because they do not have a central nervous system -- arguably what would be needed to feel pain.

For crustaceans, it is much more likely, though. Of course, other animals wouldn't think about a painless way to kill us, but that is because their thinking process is limited. A cost of the intelligence that got us out of the stone age is the necessity to consider the moral implications of our actions.

I too feel that this is inhumane, only if they can feel it. I have no problem with eating meat, as it's our way of staying alive, and we're far more important, but forcing pain on something just to eat a delicacy is just mean.

Take for instance that comment about cats and dogs boiled alive; the very thought of that crushes your heart. Not saying shellfish are are feeling as those animals, and we honestly need some conclusive evidence it causes them any pain.

Anyone who doesn't see anything wrong with causing pain to any living thing has issues. And if an animal was going to eat me, it's because I presented myself to it! We take these creatures out of their habitat to eat them - they have no choice in the matter. Some people are just so ignorant and selfish.

What the hell? It's an animal. Not just any animal, but one you are about to eat. While all these weird animal lovers are complaining, people all over the world are going to continue to eat animals, all while laughing at you because you are making such a huge freakin' deal about it. So quit watching cartoons that personify animals as emotional equals and step back into reality. Life is cruel. Get used to it.

anon51703: I was horrified to read your comments. Please don't call yourself an animal lover. It's very clear you are a human lover and that's about it. Have you ever thought to just forgo lobster? I'm sure there are other things you enjoy that don't have the ethical implications that cooking a creature live in boiling water has. Can't humans just decided to do without this one thing?

As for the statement "after a while it doesn't hurt you to cook them live anymore.." I nearly dropped my spoon- who cares if it hurts you?

To anon67843, if an animal were to eat you, it probably wouldn't think of a humane way to kill you. But does that mean you should act in a similar manner? Do you sniff other people's private areas when you first meet them because dogs do?

Lobsters and crabs take about six minutes to die in the most unbearable agony you could imagine. You would not do this to your pet so why would you do this to another creature. Of course, in some oriental country, they boil cats and dogs to death. I really don't know how anyone can be that cruel.

As a cook myself I cannot cook a dead crustacean, but I never had a problem cooking them alive. If an animal was going to eat me, it would not think of an humane way to kill me first. it would just dig in.

Since I love to cook and I happen to enjoy crustaceans and other shellfish, I have no issue cooking them live without freezing them. I am an animal lover and will fight for the rights of animals, but if you want to become a chef, then the food needs to be prepared fresh. Meaning the shellfish need to be alive before cooking them. You get used to it after a while and it doesn't hurt you to cook them live anymore.

I do love shellfish, but I have to admit: the prospect of cooking them live, without freezing them or some other such method, makes me uncomfortable.