Animal welfare advocates have been pushing for decades to get the Swiss government to ban the culinary practice of throwing live lobsters into boiling.
This week, Switzerland passed reform of the country’s animal welfare regulations and will now force changes in restaurants. Starting March 1, live lobsters will have to be stunned before they are killed for someone’s dinner.
The government also banned the transport of crustaceans on ice or in ice water and is now regulating that lobsters must be kept in their natural environment during transport. The changes to lobster transport and treatment is part of Switzerland’s broader shifts in regulations to strengthen animal protection
The move is part of a broader set of rule changes to strengthen animal protection in the Alpine country.
The government also banned automatic anti-barking collars for dogs and introduced new regulations to tackle illegal puppy farms. Switzerland’s neighbour Italy had banned in June storing lobsters on ice after a ruling by that country’s high court.
