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More Like Lobster Misinformation

Accidental Hedonist - The Lobster Misdirection:

Recent information from Norwegian research has shown that Lobsters do not feel pain. Bob Bayer, who heads the Lobster Institute and is a University of Maine professor, has said that "They have no brain, he said. Therefore, they do not feel pain. It’s a judgment based on the anatomy of the nervous system. No brain (means) a lack of processing system".

As this Norwegian report has been around since a least Feburary of 2005, Whole Foods has most likely been aware of it. So what other motivation could they possibly have in discontinuing lobster sales?

More foodie justification. In the first place, this is one study out of Norway. Not a lot of corroboration.

Second, with regard to Mr. Bayer. He is indeed a professor at the University of Maine. However, rather than being the professor of marine biology you might expect to have authority in this area, he is a professor of nutrition and food science. Secondly, that Lobster Institute he's the director of? Here's its mission, from the Lobster Institute website:

Located at The University of Maine, the Lobster Institute is the only organization of it kind. It was founded jointly by Maine’s lobster industry associations and the University – and quickly spread to be an international presence. We now work for and with lobstermen and all sectors of the lobster industry from Long Island Sound to Newfoundland.

Gee, you think Mr Bayer might have a professional interest in promoting the idea that lobsters feel no pain?

I'm a broken record on this, but once more:

There is no humane way to kill an animal. It is a contradiction in terms: slaughtering it cannot be described as "compassionate" in any way. You can rationalize your desire for meat all you want, but given a choice, the animal would rather live, don't you think? So if you're going to eat dead flesh, despite the excellent environmental, health and economic reasons for not doing so, at least have the honesty to admit it without continually invoking this "humane slaughter" canard.


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Posted by John on June 21, 2006 9:48 AM |

Comments

If you treat animals in a sufficiently abusive and vicious manner, then they will long for death, making their final slaughter a compassionate act. Problem solved! Sort of.

Posted by: Ed Heil | June 26, 2006 11:37 AM