More broadly the issue here is that crabs and lobsters (and in East Asia often fish and all seafood) are sold alive because of freshness and quality considerations.
So, IMHO the only way to enforce a ban on boiling lobsters alive is to ban selling lobsters alive and to create a whole raft of requirements similar to the slaughter of animals. In the article that's the proposal:
"It recommends against ... the sale of live decapod crustaceans to untrained, non-expert handlers"
Interestingly, and maybe I'm wrong, I don't think that the sale of live animals to random people is currently banned in the UK (i.e. I can buy a live sheep if I want to, as far as I know). It's the slaughter that is controlled. If so this proposal goes further.
Practically speaking, most people buying a lobster for home cooking treat it as "ready to cook" the same as they would a mutton steak from that same grocer. So I think the different treatment makes sense.
More broadly the issue here is that crabs and lobsters (and in East Asia often fish and all seafood) are sold alive because of freshness and quality considerations.
So, IMHO the only way to enforce a ban on boiling lobsters alive is to ban selling lobsters alive and to create a whole raft of requirements similar to the slaughter of animals. In the article that's the proposal:
"It recommends against ... the sale of live decapod crustaceans to untrained, non-expert handlers"
Interestingly, and maybe I'm wrong, I don't think that the sale of live animals to random people is currently banned in the UK (i.e. I can buy a live sheep if I want to, as far as I know). It's the slaughter that is controlled. If so this proposal goes further.