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Crabs Really Do Feel Pain: Study


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In addition to recent articles conflicting as to whether or not fish feel pain.


Scientists have long held that crabs are unable to feel pain because they lack the biology to do so, but behavioral evidence has recently shown otherwise. Now, new research further supports the hypothesis that crabs feel pain by showing that crabs given a mild shock will take steps to avoid getting shocked in the future.

http://www.livescience.com/26338-crabs-feel-pain.html

Edited by Still Waters
Fixed broken source link
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Although crav is tasty, I won't eat them. I've never liked the idea of boiling them alive.

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Crabs feeling pain.Dont know,Bit I do know that they taste real good with butter and a little Old Bay sprinkled on them,And yes I have boiled them Alive,thing is they die really fast like in an instant they hit the BOILING water so if they feel pain it isn't much for they die quickly and are ready in about 5 minutes.Even crawfish cook really fast in boiling water..Pain? I think they do have a little corse Most animals do but ...........I dont know,but thats not going to stop me from eating them.

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Now you tell me, about 10 years after I dropped rocks on a pile of big crabs at the beach!

(These things were huge though; I mean they were like a man!") <Nerdy Reference.

PARKER.JPG

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You think boiling a crab alive is inhumane? Try this for sides. (Pun intended)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb28IYXBi9A

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He was one of my Masters supervisors last year, the experiments were really interesting to hear about, as were some of his previous work on hermit crabs.

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Excuse me, but is this what scientists are doing today, very possibly inflicting pain on living creatures to see if they feel pain??? WHY?

how about they try this experiment on some of this worlds warlords, serial killers, mass murderers, rapists or pedophiles?

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So be kind to your fellow crustaceans! I've kept hermit crabs for years and they've provided loads of entertainment when they are active and if they want to be sedentary, well, you let sleep crabs lay...

Also, if they do feel pain, what will that change? They still will end up on someone's dinner plate just like chickens and cows...

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So be kind to your fellow crustaceans! I've kept hermit crabs for years and they've provided loads of entertainment when they are active and if they want to be sedentary, well, you let sleep crabs lay...

Also, if they do feel pain, what will that change? They still will end up on someone's dinner plate just like chickens and cows...

your so right.
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Also, if they do feel pain, what will that change? They still will end up on someone's dinner plate just like chickens and cows...

Are you stating what is the case, or what should be the case?

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Are you stating what is the case, or what should be the case?

There really isn't a "should-be", I think. Seafood is a big business even though we hear on a daily basis how the seas are running out of life. Ideally, I wouldn't wish any pain on anyone or anything but we have to eat, that's life... I'm sure a mother wildebeest doesn't relish the thought of her calf being devoured by hungry lions but what can she do about it...

I've been friendly with our armor-plated little neighbors (even though they've pinched me unintentionally from time to time) so don't get me wrong on that...

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There really isn't a "should-be", I think.

Are you saying that there are no moral considerations when it comes to diet?

Seafood is a big business even though we hear on a daily basis how the seas are running out of life.

True

Ideally, I wouldn't wish any pain on anyone or anything

Ok, so diet is a moral concern.

but we have to eat, that's life...

Unless you live in a stone age society or in an environment where nothing grows, you do have a choice. Just ask four time Olympic gold medalist and vegan, Carl Lewis.

I'm sure a mother wildebeest doesn't relish the thought of her calf being devoured by hungry lions but what can she do about it...

Humans are not obligate carnivores like lions and alligators.

I've been friendly with our armor-plated little neighbors (even though they've pinched me unintentionally from time to time) so don't get me wrong on that...

Glad to hear that.

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Are you saying that there are no moral considerations when it comes to diet?

True

Ok, so diet is a moral concern.

Unless you live in a stone age society or in an environment where nothing grows, you do have a choice. Just ask four time Olympic gold medalist and vegan, Carl Lewis.

Humans are not obligate carnivores like lions and alligators.

Glad to hear that.

I have also heard that Plants and vegetation feel pain.... doesn't leave a whole lot of foodstuffs for humans :unsure2:

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Well, I wouldn't consider cannibalism but if it came to survival, what else is there to do?

Kudos for Carl Lewis and all veggie eaters out there. Just because someone else is a vegeterian doesn't mean that I have to become one. We're all free to make our own choices, right?

Is there a reason why are you taking one line out of what I said earlier so personally?

And actually, Stone Age societies ate their greens...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/27/caveman-diet-stone-age-humans-meat_n_2031999.html

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I have also heard that Plants and vegetation feel pain.... doesn't leave a whole lot of foodstuffs for humans :unsure2:

And by what mechanism do they feel pain? They don't have a nervous system or nociceptors, so you've got me curious now.

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Well, I wouldn't consider cannibalism but if it came to survival, what else is there to do?

who said anything about cannibalism?

Kudos for Carl Lewis and all veggie eaters out there. Just because someone else is a vegeterian doesn't mean that I have to become one. We're all free to make our own choices, right?

Absolutely.

Is there a reason why are you taking one line out of what I said earlier so personally?

And actually, Stone Age societies ate their greens...

http://www.huffingto..._n_2031999.html

Not taken personally, just want to clear things up. You're right, bad example. I should have just said; in a modern agricultural society, eating meat is unnecessary.

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who said anything about cannibalism?

Absolutely.

Not taken personally, just want to clear things up. You're right, bad example. I should have just said; in a modern agricultural society, eating meat is unnecessary.

It's ok, as a matter of fact, I've tried going vegetarian a few times unsuccessfully as I'm sure it would be a healthier lifestyle but I haven't the willpower for it. I've given up smoking from one day to the next without looking back but with food, I just couldn't do it, that's why I say kudos to those who could... :)

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I've kept all kinds of salt water crabs over the years ,and they are far more evolved and intelligent,than most people assume.

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Excuse me, but is this what scientists are doing today, very possibly inflicting pain on living creatures to see if they feel pain??? WHY?

how about they try this experiment on some of this worlds warlords, serial killers, mass murderers, rapists or pedophiles?

If scientists didnt reseach these thing their would be no proof and people would go on saying "its OK they dont feel pain".

Also, if they do feel pain, what will that change? They still will end up on someone's dinner plate just like chickens and cows...

It could help stop declawing the crabs, where the pull off the claw and chuck the crab back in the sea alive to regrow the claw for the next round.

For anyone interested here are some of his papers

http://forms.mbl.edu/research/services/iacuc/pdf/pain_hermit_crabs.pdf

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0168159109000409/1-s2.0-S0168159109000409-main.pdf?_tid=c538ef66-6184-11e2-bb9d-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1358523544_4f7068e4e84fcbd4fb97679cf6b82514

http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=elwood+crabs+pain&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5

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A chief ask the question, that inspired the study. I guess the chief was kind of freaked out by lobsters screaming when they are dropped in boiling water. I don't like crab or lobster, but I like shrimp. Everything has to eat and something usually ends up invited for dinner. I think it is good to do this science, though. It gives better understand of what is pain and how it works.

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If scientists didnt reseach these thing their would be no proof and people would go on saying "its OK they dont feel pain".

It could help stop declawing the crabs, where the pull off the claw and chuck the crab back in the sea alive to regrow the claw for the next round.

For anyone interested here are some of his papers

http://forms.mbl.edu/research/services/iacuc/pdf/pain_hermit_crabs.pdf

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0168159109000409/1-s2.0-S0168159109000409-main.pdf?_tid=c538ef66-6184-11e2-bb9d-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1358523544_4f7068e4e84fcbd4fb97679cf6b82514

http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=elwood+crabs+pain&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5

Thanks for the link to those papers. I get a kick out of some of the wording, i.e., "Since animals can not be asked directly...". Hermit crabs are quite amazing animals and if you've been privledged enough to witness them changing and sizing up their next shell, it's quite remarkable. For them to pick up a shell and revolve it in their little chilipeds to size it up and explore the inside is just interesting to watch. Another thing about hermit crabs that is amazing is their strength. Since they really don't have much of a concept of going around things (over, under and through being the main strategy) they tend to push things aside until they fit which can include rocks that weight far more than their little armored bodies. I would guess it would be like someone pushing aside a dolmen until they could go comfortably through them.

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If scientists didnt reseach these thing their would be no proof and people would go on saying "its OK they dont feel pain".

Quite true, but as pointed out by Mantis, will it make any difference? We have people slaughtering animals because of their religion, as long as this is allowed, then I doubt some men will care about what the crab or fish feels.

If the scientists are doing this research to prove that they do feel and to let people know its not ok...then why do the scientists not tell the religious lot that livestock DO FEEL PAIN.

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Quite true, but as pointed out by Mantis, will it make any difference? We have people slaughtering animals because of their religion, as long as this is allowed, then I doubt some men will care about what the crab or fish feels.

If the scientists are doing this research to prove that they do feel and to let people know its not ok...then why do the scientists not tell the religious lot that livestock DO FEEL PAIN.

Scientists find out the facts which may in turn affect welfare legislation, and the work is published for all to see and if it changes how animals are treated, the all the better.Ultimately its up to the lawmakers to enforce the legislation.

The fact that some ignore the results doesnt remove the value or validity of carrying such studies.

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Scientists find out the facts which may in turn affect welfare legislation, and the work is published for all to see and if it changes how animals are treated, the all the better.Ultimately its up to the lawmakers to enforce the legislation.

The fact that some ignore the results doesnt remove the value or validity of carrying such studies.

Some? there are an awful lot ignoring it...maybe the scientists have chosen to concentrate on the crabs and fish because they know that telling people lifestock feel pain when slaughtered would make no difference and would more than likely cause a ":jihad" !

if they are that concerned about animal welfare then they should be doing their best to stop cruelty to livestock instead of p *** y footing around with fish and crabs.

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No, the reason why they are working on crabs and fish is because it is a new area and many others have already done and are still doing the work with other species. If all scientists did the same thing nothing would get done. Plus a scientist who spent years specialising in marine biology would do better looking at crabs and fish than they would looking at pigs and sheep.

The scientist behind the study is a leading animal behaviour scientist and leads a course on animal behaviour and welfare. He lectures alongside others fighting for improved welfare for pets livestock and wild animals. Just because it doesnt get on the TV or the newspapers doesnt mean it isnt happening. The fact is that although scientists are trying to improve animal welfare, they cannot enforce legislation, that is up to the government.

If you are concerned with animal welfare, the pussyfooting around with crabs and fish should be as important as that of livestock, seeing as millions are pulled out of the water every year.

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