Who's the Meat?

Like eating crabs? Excited about your lobster bisque or fried octopus? We have some bad news for you. Well, maybe not entirely. It depends on whether or not you live in the UK and accept that lobsters, octopus, and crabs will be recognized as sentient beings moving forward. Why is this happening? A recent study suggests that they have a central nervous system and have the ability to feel pain. The good news is that the changes will likely be centered around over-hunting and killing methods. Before you freak out about how you've prepared your lobster in the past, as long as you're not dunking them into boiling water and go for a slow boil they don't really notice it because the temperature difference is not instantaneous. 

But yes, you read that correctly: the UK is moving toward recognizing crabs, lobsters, and octopus as sentient. What does that mean for you? Right now, it doesn't mean anything. Once the bill becomes a law, there will be an Animal Sentience Committee that will generate reports on how well the government is accounting for sentient animals in their decisions surrounding animal rights and animal slaughter. More than likely, you will not need to worry about the availability of these critters nor will you need to worry about hunting them. 

In a way, this is similar to the American PACT Act which makes animal cruelty a federal crime. You may be surprised to know that this law became active in 2019 and not 1919, but it means that suffocating, drowning, impaling, crushing, burning, or anything along those lines is treated as a federal crime instead of being handled with lesser charges. The significance of this act is that it is nationwide instead of being handled at the state level. It was originally put in place because of some disturbing trends seen online involving the inhuman death of small or infant mammals. Because this content was posted online and clearly something that was happening across the US, there was a need to pass a federal law instead of relying on the states. Of note, the state laws can vary so much that there are some cities where certain dog breeds are banned due to their typical use (ie: pitbulls as fighting dogs) to leash laws that allow people to kill your unleashed dog with no repercussions if they feel that they are in danger.

Animal cruelty laws, while important, also have to take into consideration industries that make their money from some level of animal slaughter. For example, consider that veterinary practices and as well as agricultural practices will vary from place to place and it may be difficult to differentiate between animal cruelty and a normal practice - especially when religious practices are involved with the method of slaughter. It is not easy to have a blanket law that covers every aspect of how an animal is handled, especially since slaughter methods change depending on the type of animal and meat being harvested.

Speaking of meat, you may have noticed the price of certain groceries climb recently due to shortages and inflation. We saw a turkey shortage in November that seems to still be active now. Though frustrating, there is not much to be done about the grocery store shortages as this is just as much a supply/supply chain issue as it is an issue with inflation. We may have to try different recipes or potentially change up what we decide to do for Christmas this year. Not to worry, your friends at Arbitrage trade will be watching this issue closely.