Switzerland makes boiling live lobsters illegal ‘because they feel pain’
The change follows efforts to stick to the Swiss constitution on 'animal dignity' and means it is the first country to have strict lobster cooking laws
BOILING lobsters will be illegal in Switzerland as it has been found the crustaceans can "feel pain".
The new laws, which come in next month, will see chefs required to "render them unconscious"; before cooking them.
Cooks will no longer be able to put live lobsters into boiling water.
They will have to stun or electrocute them, before stabbing the crustaceans with a knife, ahead of cooking.
The change follows efforts to stick to the Swiss constitution on "animal dignity" and means it is the first country to have strict lobster cooking laws.
Others rules include cats needing to have daily visual contact with other cats and dogs cannot be punished for barking.
Hamsters have to be kept in pairs and anyone who flushes a goldfish down the toilet is breaking the law.
The new law also states lobsters must be taken to their final Swiss destination in seawater rather than on ice.
The sea change comes as campaigners say there is evidence lobsters feel pain.
UK Fisheries Minister George Eustice said the government was looking at making changes.
He told BBC Radio Live: "We know that among some of the larger crustaceans, such as lobsters, they do not feel conscious pain in the way that we do.
"But there is some evidence that they have a nervous system that enables them to detect stress and this is something that we ought to be considering.
"The RSPCA has issued some very good guidance on the correct way to kill a lobster. You can either gradually freeze them, in which case they literally lull into unconsciousness."
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He added: "I've spent many an hour sitting down with our officials and experts.
"We are looking at this issue but it is a complex one and the evidence is actually quite mixed."
Thousands have signed an online petition to support a change in UK law.