Government ministers say that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans and alternative guidance will soon be published in the Animal Welfare Strategy
09:59, 23 Dec 2025Updated 10:24, 23 Dec 2025
Boiling lobsters while they are alive and conscious will be banned in a bid to improve animal welfare in England.
Government ministers say that “live boiling is not an acceptable killing method” for crustaceans and alternative guidance will soon be published. It forms part of the Government’s long-awaited Animal Welfare Strategy which sets out a raft of policies to improve the lives of pets and animals on farms and in the wild.
Boiling lobsters alive is already illegal in Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand, and animal welfare charities say that stunning lobsters with an electric gun or chilling them in cold air or ice before boiling them is more humane.
Ben Sturgeon, chief executive of the charity Crustacean Compassion, welcomed the plans, saying: “When live, conscious animals are placed into boiling water, they endure several minutes of excruciating pain. This is torture and completely avoidable. Humane alternatives, like electrical stunning, are readily available.”
The announcement was also welcomed by former Tory minister Zac Goldsmith. Writing on X, he said: “Am with labour on this. So unnecessarily brutal and cruel.”
In 2022 the Tories brought in a law which stated that invertebrates including octopus, crabs and lobsters were sentient and felt pain as much as other animals.
Other plans in the strategy include looking into ending the use of electric shock collars for pets, clamping down on dog attacks on farm animals and banning hens being caged. Trail hunting and snares will also be banned under the strategy, as revealed by The Mirror over the weekend.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the UK was "a nation of animal lovers" and described the package as “the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation”.
Under plans for pets, ministers will reform dog breeding practices to improve health and welfare, including an end to puppy farming, which sees dogs often overbred and denied proper care. It builds on an already announced crackdown on puppy smuggling.
For farm animals, the new strategy includes a vow to move away from confinement systems such as colony cages for laying hens, introduce humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish and promote use of slow growing meat chicken breeds.
Ministers also pledged to shift away from pig farrowing crates - metal-barred cages designed to confine mother pigs before and after they give birth - and to address welfare issues arising from the use of carbon dioxide to stun pigs.