USA TODAY US Edition

Switzerlan­d will spare lobsters the scalding pot

- Helena Bachmann

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 it’s cruel and lobsters can sense pain.

The world’s first such national legislatio­n of its kind calls for a more hu- mane death for lobsters: “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 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 specifies that 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.

“Lobsters, like other animals, experience pain and distress.”

Stefan Kunfermann Federal Office of Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs

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 new rules on how to make the lobsters’ demise as painless as possible.

The law also stipulates that lobsters must be transporte­d to their final Swiss destinatio­n in their natural environmen­t — seawater — rather than on ice.

The government vows that offenders will not slip through the net. State officials will be responsibl­e for enforcemen­t, and Kunfermann said offenders could land in hot water, with sentences of up to three years in prison.

Animal rights activists applauded the law and called for more action.

“While this may end one of the cruelest methods of killing these fascinatin­g beings in Switzerlan­d, there are no laws protecting them from being boiled alive in other countries — including the U.S.,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said on its website.

“Globally, Switzerlan­d is in the forefront of animal welfare legislatio­n,” said Antoine Goetschel, an attorney and founder of the Zurich-based Global Animal Law Associatio­n.

In 2010, Goetschel represente­d in court a 22-pound pike that he said suffered when a local fisherman roughly yanked it for 10 minutes before pulling it from icy Lake Zurich.

The fisherman was acquitted, but Goetschel spearheade­d a national referendum that same year to grant animals the constituti­onal right to be represente­d by lawyers in court. The proposal was rejected by 70% of the voters.

Not everyone is happy with the regulation. Chef René Widmer, founder of Prorest Culinary School in the town of Rafz, complained to Blick newspaper that the new law is useless: “I always turned the lobster upside down before throwing it into the boiling water — then it dies within seconds.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States