"Lobster" exciting updates!
We have ‘lobster’ exciting things to update you on! PETITION We have now collected over 9,000 petition signatures in support of our demand that decapod crustaceans like crabs and lobsters are protected under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This is a fantastic achievement and we are so grateful to everyone who has supported us to date! It is critical for our campaign to demonstrate that there is widespread public support for this issue to get it onto the political agenda though, so we’re still working hard to obtain at least 10,000 signatures. Please continue to share our petition far and wide online: https://www.change.org/p/george-eustice-mp-protect-crabs-and-lobsters-under-the-animal-welfare-act-england-and-wales. Some star supporters are also collecting signatures the old-fashioned way with great results. If you want to be part of this you can download paper copies of our petition that you can share with friends, family, work colleagues, or at events: https://www.crustaceancompassion.org.uk/resources. We are also able provide campaign leaflets for you to distribute – just make an email request to campaigns@crustaceancompassion.org.uk and we’ll send these over to you. Don’t forget to let us know what you’re doing too! Tag us using @crab_welfare in your tweet or @Crustacean Compassion in a Facebook post, use the hashtag #crustaceancompassion, or drop us a line at campaigns@crustaceancompassion.org.uk. SPRING 2017 This was a very busy time for Crustacean Compassion! We were featured in The Sunday Times, alerting a large audience to this issue and what we’re trying to achieve. After attending the Fish Veterinary Society’s annual conference at the beginning of the month, we were also featured in the April edition of Fish Farmer Magazine, where our argument was shared with the fishing industry. In May we were invited to be the final speakers at The Animal Welfare Science, Ethics & Law Veterinary Association (AWSELVA) conference on the topic of ‘A decade under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, what difference has it made?’, arguing that the future of the Animal Welfare Act includes decapods! We received positive feedback from an audience including vets, lawyers, veterinary students, and animal welfare experts. You can check out our media coverage here: https://www.crustaceancompassion.org.uk/press-1 SUMMER 2017 We were featured in ‘Animal Justice UK’; a newsletter published by the Association of Lawyers for Animal Welfare, introducing our argument to animal law, politics and social science students. The whole Crustacean Compassion Team then went to Brighton to attend The March of the Mermaids. At this fantastic event that champions sea life, we were able to talk to members of the public directly about the campaign, where we received a lot of support and encouragement, as well as many more signatures for our petition. We were disappointed to discover that lobsters were being housed in incredibly poor conditions very close to where the march was taking place though, which highlighted why our campaign is so important. Our involvement in the Brexit alliance of animal welfare organisations, led by the Association of Lawyers for Animal Welfare and the Wildlife and Countryside Link, continues. Together we are looking at ways to secure and strengthen the animal welfare protections of EU law following Brexit. Our joint manifesto is almost ready to send to the government, and we are delighted that the inclusion of decapods in the UK’s animal welfare laws is one of the proposals that has been signed up to by many of the UK’s leading animal welfare charities. We’ll be in touch soon with a further update, but in the meantime thanks again for your support, and do stay in in touch! Best wishes, Maisie, Juliette, Claire, Ann, Joanna and Gemma Crustacean Compassion
