The Animal Law Foundation, supported by 42 organisations and legal experts, has written to the newly formed Welsh Government calling on it to confirm that boiling decapod crustaceans, including lobsters and crabs, alive is illegal under existing Welsh law, and to commit to publishing official guidance.
The letter follows a landmark victory in England, where the UK government formally acknowledged in its Animal Welfare Strategy for England, published in December 2025, that live boiling is incompatible with the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations 2015.
The Welsh Government is now being asked to reach the same conclusion under its own equivalent legislation – the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Wales) Regulations 2014, which contains identical provisions.
Schedule 4 of The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Wales) Regulations 2014, which applies to lobsters and crabs, states:
4.—(1) No person engaged in the restraint, stunning or killing of an animal may—
(a)cause any avoidable pain, distress or suffering to that animal; or
(b)permit that animal to sustain any avoidable pain, distress or suffering.
(2) No person may engage in the restraint, stunning or killing of an animal unless that person has the knowledge and skill necessary to perform those operations humanely and efficiently.
Lobsters and crabs were officially recognised as sentient and capable of feeling pain in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
The coalition is calling on Plaid Cymru’s government to acknowledge what the law already says and publish guidance making this clear to the industry, regulators and to consumers.
Campaigners have said being boiled alive while fully conscious can take many agonising minutes, and scientific consensus, including the London School of Economics scientific review, confirms that decapod crustaceans are sentient animals, capable of experiencing pain, distress and fear and that alternative, less painful, killing methods are available.
The request carries particular significance for Wales, where around 90% of all landings are shellfish, including crabs and lobsters.
Edie Bowles, Executive Director at The Animal Law Foundation said:
“Wales has the same legal protections for lobsters and crabs as England, where it is now officially recognised that live boiling is unacceptable under the current law. We are asking the new Welsh Government to start off on the right foot and ensure animal protection laws are acknowledged and complied with. Every day without this is another day the law continues to be misunderstood and undermined, with animals suffering as a result.”
“Lobsters and crabs are sentient animals. Science tells us they feel pain, fear and distress. Being boiled alive while fully conscious can take many agonising minutes, and there is no justification – legal or moral – for allowing this to continue.”
