Posted on 02/09/2005 7:00:48 AM PST by LibWhacker
It is the ethical dilemma that for decades has troubled the rich and aspiring the world over: when you place a live lobster in a pot of boiling water, does it feel pain?
Norwegian scientists were asked to investigate pain, discomfort and stress in invertebrates and claim now to have discovered that the answer is no.
Their conclusion applies also to crabs and to live worms on a fish hook. None of these feel a thing. Which is good news for Norwegian fishermen at least.
Their government was considering a ban on live worms as fish bait under revisions to its animal protection laws - but only if it hurt. Wenche Farstad of the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science in Oslo now says it does not.
"It seems to be only reflex curling when put on the hook. They might sense something but it is not painful and does not compromise their well-being," said Prof Farstad, who chaired the panel that prepared the government report. "The common earthworm has a very simple nervous system. It can be cut in two and continue with its business."
The report looked at welfare implications of everything from cooking live crabs and lobsters to keeping bees. Invertebrates are animals without backbones, covering creatures from insects and spiders to mollusks and crustaceans.
Honeybees deserve special care, Prof Farstad said, because they display social behaviour and a capacity to learn and cooperate. But invertebrates do not feel pain because they have basic nervous systems and small brains.
Peter Fraser, a marine biologist at the University of Aberdeen, says crabs and lobsters have only about 100,000 neurons, compared with 100bn in people and other vertebrates. While this allows them to react to threatening stimuli, he said there is no evidence they feel pain.
Tiny perforations in leg bones allow crabs and lobsters to jettison limbs if trapped by predators. "That doesn't demonstrate whether they feel pain or not, but it does demonstrate they have very different mechanisms," Dr Fraser said. "If we tried to throw off a leg I'd imagine that would be very painful indeed."
I never had an ethical dilemma regarding lobsters.
Gee whiz, now I will feel so much better when I have my Fierce Allegiance Day dinner tonight!
I have never cared.
Get your bitch ass in my pot and turn red damnit!
Pass the butter, please.
sw
Next, I'm sure, they will pass laws banning abortion. (But only if it hurts)
THEY are here.
Anyone who has ever tossed live crabs into a pot of boiling water and heard how loud they scream and seen how hard they fight find a way to climb out of the pot would question the conclusion of this research. The trick is to put them in cold water and slowly increase the temperature.
"God forgive me, but I don't care if they do.
Pass the butter, please."
-LOL, That was so beautiful it deserved a reprise!!!
Oh yeah, and don't forgot to smother them with this:
and to wash them down with:
Yum, lobsters... I've never had any issues either. But I do wince a little when I have to put the live ones in the pot. Yes, we chill them first to 'numb' them. We don't have them a lot, but I still flinch a little. Mmmmm, lobbies (as we call them)...
Well John Kerry said he felt no pain when he shot himself in the azz to get one of his 3 purple hearts that he was allowed to keep unlike Marine Cpl. Travis Eichelberger who was run over by 67-ton Abrams tank in Iraq. So does this mean Kerry is a lobster?
Well, let’s see…
I knew one dope that popped a radiator cap and got sprayed in the face/neck/arm with boiling+ water. He claimed not to feel much pain at the time it happened. Literally had third degree burns and claimed the pain didn’t start until sometime after they had cleaned/bandaged him up.
I knew a kid that was running around a campground and fell into coals that had been covered over with dirt. He had second and third degree burns on forearms/chest/belly. He also claimed it scared him more than it hurt initially.
Knew another guy that got burned bad stabbing in a fuse when he was a lineman. He was doing everything just right – standing on the rubber mat, wearing his fire suit, the works. But for some reason something arced and a plasma ball rolled down the fiberglass rod and burned him up.
Burned him “bad” up. Burned off his arms. Burned one leg off and the other was burned up enough that they had to amputate it. Burned off his ears and nose, damaged his lungs and eyes – the whole deal. He always claimed not to have felt anything at the time either.
That seems to be pretty normal. Talk to anyone that has been injured seriously (fall off a roof, motorcycle wreck, etc) and they’ll usually tell you they were numb or something.
And, who really cares whether a fish/worm/lobster feels pain anyway?
Anyone who has ever tossed live crabs into a pot of boiling water and heard how loud they screamI wasn't aware that crustaceons had vocal chords.
I think that the 'scream' is the sound of steam rushing out of their shells -- like a tea kettle.
Uuuhhhh I'd say being put on a hook as bait would compromise one's well being...whether you feel it or not.
That's what the lid is for!
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Then why do they thrash about when placed in boiling water?
Just in time for guilt-free Lobsterfest dining at Red Lobster....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.