Crabs need not suffer

Regarding your editorial, “PETA finds a way to make Baltimore steam” (Aug. 27), most of us would recoil at the thought of intentionally harming a cat or dog, yet we seem to have a blind spot regarding the suffering of animals whoare killed for our plates.

Crabs and other crustaceans may seem very different from us, but in the ways that matter the most, they’re more like us than we may care to admit. Robert W. Elwood, a leading authority on the subject of pain in crustaceans, says, “Denying that crabs feel pain because they don’t have the same biology is like denying they can see because they don’t have a visual cortex.”

Research has shown that crabs adapt to changing cues in their environment and that they are capable of learning and remembering information. Yet too many people continue to think of these animals as little more than swimming entrées — if they think of them at all. It’s time for a sea change. Kinder options — such as the vegan crab cakes at Baltimore’s Land of Kush — are easy to find and prove that no animal needs to die for dinner.