(2021-11-22) Octopuses Lobsters And Crabs Are Sentient Beings Says New Uk Study

Octopuses, lobsters, and crabs are sentient beings, says new U.K. study. The British government has announced that it will add both cephalopods (the class containing octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish) and decapods (the order with lobsters, crabs, shrimp, prawns, and crayfish) to its new animal-welfare bill, citing “strong evidence” that this group of marine invertebrates has feelings.

That new legislation—the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, which was introduced back in May and would require the British government to take animals’ feelings into account when writing rules and crafting policy—already recognizes all vertebrates as sentient beings

concluded cephalopods and decapods have the capacity for “feelings of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort, and excitement” because they have “complex central nervous systems, one of the key hallmarks of sentience.”