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 lobsters, crabs and other crustaceans amid a push from animal welfare activists to include the invertebrates in legislation that would recognize them as sentient 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。

　　Notes:

　　crustacean 甲壳纲动物

　　Invertebrate 无脊椎动物

　　sentient 有感觉能力的，有知觉力的

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

　　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 octopuses 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。

　　Note:

　　mussel 贻贝

　　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 lobster 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 stunning them with an electric device or freezing them is more humane.

　　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。

　　来源：泰晤士报 国会山报

（责任编辑：admin）