煮活龙虾、活螃蟹也会违法？据《泰晤士报》7日报道，英国正计划将龙虾、螃蟹、章鱼等无脊椎动物正式认定为保护动物，因为它们也有痛感和知觉。该计划一旦通过，煮食此类活物的行为也将被禁止。

 

The United Kingdom is weighing a ban on boiling live lobsters², crabs³ and other crustaceans⁴ amid a push from animal welfare activists⁵ to include the invertebrates⁶ in legislation that would recognize them as sentient⁷ beings.

英国正在考虑禁止煮食活龙虾、螃蟹和其他甲壳纲动物，动物保护人士正在推动立法认定这些无脊椎动物是有知觉的生物。

 

At present the Animal Welfare (Sentience⁸) Bill, which is making its way through the House of Lords, covers only vertebrates — animals that have a backbone⁹.

目前，正在上议院审议的《动物福利（感知）法案》只涉及有脊骨的脊椎动物。

 

Though the legislation currently only includes vertebrates, lawmakers are weighing expanding it to include invertebrates such as lobsters, as well as octopuses¹⁰ and mussels, according to The Times.

据《泰晤士报》报道，尽管这项法案目前只涉及脊椎动物，但立法者正在考虑将对象扩大到龙虾、章鱼、贻贝等无脊椎动物。

 

The legislation comes as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it has commissioned a study to examine the creature's sentience.

在法案出台之际，英国环境、食品和农村事务部表示已委托进行一项研究，检验这些动物的感知能力。

 

Cooking lobster¹ typically involves boiling the creatures alive in excess of 15 minutes, a method long employed to address bacteria but that often leaves the creatures clanking around in the pot. Advocates have argued that first stunning¹¹ them with an electric device or freezing them is more humane¹².

烹饪龙虾时通常需水煮15分钟龙虾才能熟，这是惯用的杀菌方法，但龙虾会在锅里叮当作响。该法案的支持者认为，更人道的做法是先对龙虾进行电击或冷冻。

 

Several countries already ban the boiling of lobsters, including New Zealand and Switzerland.

新西兰、瑞士等国家已经禁止煮龙虾。

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