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An animal rights expert has branded online retailer Amazon ‘a disgrace’ for allowing the sale of live lobsters on its site.
Live Canadian lobsters are currently being sold for £27.95 – £42.50 (depending on size) by an outlet called Fine Food Specialist.
The seller gives advice on how to boil the lobster alive – a practice recently made illegal in Switzerland on animal welfare grounds – but still legal in the UK.
The company – which appears to be based in the UK – does not ship the animals internationally.
Reviews
The seller has received mixed reviews for its service, with some calling the practice ‘cruel’.
One reviewer wrote: “No-one ever needs to inflict this level of cruelty just to eat a meal.
“Transporting a live animal…then sticking it in boiling water is not only cruel but entirely unnecessary.
“I am disgusted that Amazon allows this to happen.”
Mixed response
But another said: “Firstly, it is not ‘illegal’ to boil a lobster alive.
“Amazon has every right to sell this product. It’s legal, and a premium product.
“If you don’t approve, don’t go to the trouble of finding this item just so you can be ‘disgusted’.”
‘Disgrace’
Juliet Gellatley, Animal rights expert and founder of charity Viva!, told PBN: “Amazon is a disgrace profiting from the abject suffering of lobsters.
“It is 2018 and they are allowing the shipping of live animals to be killed – usually boiled alive.
“It’s obscene beyond words and must stop.”
PBN has contacted both Amazon and Fine Food Specialist for comment and will update this story with any replies.
