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Tell the Government to Close the Loophole: Stop Ignoring Decapods Used in UK Experiments 

Lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps, and crayfish are intelligent, complex animals capable of learning from experience, solving problems, navigating their surroundings, and responding to pain and distress. 

Some crabs use tools. Lobsters establish social relationships. Hermit crabs weigh risks and make decisions based on previous experiences. Like dogs, cats, and other animals, decapod crustaceans can suffer. 

In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, the UK government legally recognised decapod crustaceans as sentient beings under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. But despite this recognition, these animals are still excluded from the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), the law that oversees the use of animals in experiments. 

 

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Suffering Behind Closed Laboratory Doors 

Every year, thousands of decapod crustaceans are used in experiments in the UK. 

These animals may be subjected to painful and distressing procedures, including exposure to toxic chemicals, electric shocks, acid injections, amputations, and dissection. Yet because decapods are excluded from ASPA, what happens to them is largely invisible to the public and even to the Government. 

Unlike animals included in ASPA, experimenters are not required to provide any so-called justification of the use of decapods, nor report on the number of animals used, as well as the experiments that they endured.  

As a result, experiments on decapods are kept in the shadows. Bringing them into the light is essential to driving transparency, scrutiny, and ultimately the end to their use. 

A Loophole That Must Be Closed

The government's own Animal Sentience Committee has specifically identified bringing decapod crustaceans within ASPA as a necessary reform. 

Yet more than four years after the scientific review that led to their recognition as sentient, these animals remain excluded. 

The government says it is considering whether decapods should be protected under ASPA, but consideration is not enough. Every day that action is delayed, decapods continue to suffer in experiments while opportunities to end their use are missed. 

Hidden Animals Cannot Be Replaced 

In its Replacing Animals in Science Strategy, the UK government has committed to replacing animals in experiments. But it is impossible to effectively replace animals whose use remains largely unrecorded and unregulated. 

If decapods remain outside ASPA, there is no clear picture of how many are being used, what suffering they endure, or how progress towards replacing them can be measured. 

Bringing decapod crustaceans within ASPA would provide greater transparency to help ensure they are no longer overlooked in efforts to end animal experimentation. 

PETA opposes all experiments on animals. But while decapods continue to be used in experiments in the UK, their use must be brought into the light so that it can be properly scrutinised and replaced. 

Take Action 

Decapod crustaceans have already been recognised in law as sentient beings capable of suffering. They should not be treated differently from other legally recognised sentient animals. 

Take action now urging the Home Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade to bring decapod crustaceans within the scope of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. 

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Dear Home Office and Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade,  

We are urging the Home Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade to immediately bring decapod crustaceans within the scope of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).  

Crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and other decapod crustaceans are intelligent, sensitive animals capable of experiencing pain, distress, and pleasure. Following a government-commissioned scientific review, they were recognised as sentient under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. Yet despite this recognition, they remain excluded from the UK’s primary legislation governing the use of animals in experiments.  

Thousands of these sensitive animals are used in experiments in the UK every year. They may be exposed to toxic chemicals, injected with acid, subjected to electric shocks, and have body parts amputated. Yet, because decapods fall outside the scope of ASPA, painful and distressing experiments can be carried out without even the limited levels of transparency, scrutiny, and oversight afforded to many other animals used in experiments.  

The UK has committed to replacing animals in experiments, but meaningful progress cannot be made while the use of decapods goes undocumented. Bringing decapods within the scope of ASPA would ensure greater transparency, support efforts to replace and ultimately end their use in experiments and ensure that all sentient animals are treated consistently across UK animal protection legislation.  

There can be no question over the Government's continued consideration of the "potential" inclusion of decapods within ASPA. Recognition of sentience without protection is meaningless. We therefore urge you to include decapod crustaceans within the scope of ASPA without further delay.  

Yours sincerely, 

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