Restaurants in Switzerland will soon not be allowed to boil live lobsters as part of a broader reform of the country's animal welfare regulations.
Beginning in March 2018, lobsters being prepared in Switzerland will need to be stunned or have their brains mechanically destroyed before they can be put in boiling water, according to the new government order.
The Swiss Federal Council has also banned the practice of transporting crustaceans on ice or in ice water, ruling they should always be kept in their natural environment.
Switzerland is not alone in trying to protect lobsters from unnecessary suffering. Last year, the high court in neighboring Italy ruled that lobsters must not be kept on ice in restaurants prior to cooking because it causes them unjustifiable suffering.
Animal rights advocates and some scientists have long argued that lobsters and other crustaceans have sophisticated nervous systems and probably feel pain when boiled alive.
