Switzerland will spare lobsters the scalding pot

GENEVA – When it comes to cooking fresh lobster, the Swiss are now saying: We feel your pain.

A law takes effect March 1 that bans the common cooking method of tossing a live lobster into a pot of boiling water, quickly killing the tasty crustacean. That practice is being outlawed because the Swiss say that it’s cruel and that lobsters can sense pain.

The world’s first such national legislation of its kind for a more humane death for lobsters recommends “rendering them unconscious” before plunging them into scalding water. Two methods are recommended: electrocution or sedating the lobster by dipping it into saltwater and then thrusting a knife into its brain.

The same law also gives domestic pets further protections, such as saying dogs can no longer be punished for barking.

The measure is part of the broad principle of “animal dignity” enshrined in Switzerland’s Constitution, the only country with such a provision. The Constitution already protects how various species must be treated and says animals need socialization.

That means cats must have daily visual contact with other felines, and hamsters or guinea pigs must be kept in pairs. And anyone who flushes a pet goldfish down the toilet is breaking the law.

The lobster legislation that boils down to a pain-free death was driven by research, including a study by Queen’s University in Belfast that found crustaceans are sentient creatures.

“These studies show that lobsters, like other animals, experience pain and distress,” said Stefan Kunfermann, a spokesman for the Federal Office of Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs.

Though lobster consumption in this landlocked country is “negligible,” Parliament had tried to ban the import of all live lobsters to prevent them from an agonizing death at the hands of Swiss restaurant cooks, Kunfermann said.

That drastic measure would have violated international trade agreements, so authorities instead issued rules to make lobsters’ demise as painless as possible. The law also stipulates that lobsters must be transported to their final destination in their natural environment — seawater — rather than on ice.

ROBERT F. BUKATY/ AP Lobsters can no longer be placed alive in a pot of boiling water for cooking as of March 1 in Switzerland. The Swiss say lobsters feel pain.