Is it wrong to cook live animals for a meal?

[OS]

I bought some live crabs tonight as a snack. When I tossed them into the boiling pot, clearly the crabs felt something unpleasant, flailed their limbs for a while, and then spent the next 1-2 minutes twitching and foaming. I'm not a particularly squeamish person, but I can see how some people would be pretty troubled by it.

I mean I hear that invertebrates don't feel pain in the sense that we know, but clearly being boiled created trauma for them. But I'm not a bio major anymore, so I don't know if that trauma is the same searing pain we feel.

I'm not saying it's wrong to eat meat or anything like that, but I wonder if I'm needlessly torturing little animals for the sake of a luxury meal. No doubt some smart guy is going to come in here and pretend it's macho to eat meat with everything, but I'm serious.

I will say though, those crabs were pretty tasty. :Q

 

[Imdmn04]

crab meat wouldnt taste as good if it wasnt cooked alive. They are animals, but they are food. we are on a higher level of the food chain, so too bad for them

 

[joohang]

I have problems with Koreans killing dogs by beating the crap out of them to make the meat more "tender."

But I guess I'm a hypocrite because I've love to eat raw, freshly cut salmon and freshly boiled crab and lobster.

I once ate a BBQ chicken that my parents killed just before we grilled it. Damn.. that was the best chicken I had in my life.

 

[OS]

<< I once ate a BBQ chicken that my parents killed just before we grilled it. Damn.. that was the best chicken I had in my life. >>



Yeah, I hear that at cock fights, they cook the loser and when they do, it tastes incredible. :Q

 

[joohang]

That was back when I used to live in Argentina. We owned a place that was one hectare in area and in the middle, we had a huge swimming pool and a treehouse big enough to hold 50+ people. We grilled the chicken in a mixture of coal and broken dry pinetree. Mmmm...

<-- Misses asado.

 

[singh]

For some reason, torturing animals solely so they would taste better nullifies you from being considered a creature that possesses higher intellect.

 

[Nemesis77]

If you put live crabs in boiling water they should die more or less instanteniously. That IS the fastest and most humane way of killing them. If you tried to kill them with other means (smashing them with hammer or something) you would cause more pain that throwing them in boiling water does (and you would ruin the meat).

 

[Kelvrick]

<< If you put live crabs in boiling water theyr should die more or less instanteniously. That IS the fastest and most humane way of killing them. If you tried to kill them with other means (smashing them with hammer or something) you would cause more pain that throwing them in boiling water does (and you would ruin the meat). >>


Interesting. There is a viet soup/noodle dish that tastes real good with crab guts. Me and my older brother and friends would often go to the beach and go out on those huge rock piers and catch those small black crabs by the bucket full. We'd just throw them in a bucket, drive home and stick them in the fridge. Sometiems we go to it right away, but sometimes we stuck them in the fridge. We'd wash them out with water, and I'd get to crushing every single one of them with a 5lb wooden rolling pin with a rounded/hardened end. I guess that wasn't very humane, but damn that dish tasted good with actual crab and none of that imitation crap you buy at the store.

I guess throwing them in boiling water would kill them instantly, but I'd often just get some hot water into a pot, and put in one of these steam bowls with a bunch a holes to keep the crabs above the water. I'll put the crabs in, close the lid *the lid has a lock on it for this purpose* and turn on the flames. I'd hear clacking as the crabs/lobsters tried to escape, but the lock kept them in. Oh man, dipping that crab in lemon/salt and pepper is some good sh1t!!

 

[OS]

<< If you tried to kill them with other means (smashing them with hammer or something) you would cause more pain that throwing them in boiling water does (and you would ruin the meat). >>



ugh, yeah real bad idea to boil crabs that were already split open, you'd lose all the flavor. Unless you were making soup of course.

 

[Nefrodite]

erm, if that bothered you .... you should have cut off their heads you can use a sharp pair of sissors to just snip that front end right off. that or you can stick a sharp pointed knife straight into its head and cut foward and away from you.. (assuming head is pointed away) and split its head in half. makes sure its dead then you toss the sucker in.. yea the twitchin starts but what else would happen to muscles in a hard shell

works the same way with lobsters, well you don't snip their heads, but use the knfe method obviously.



For some reason, torturing animals solely so they would taste better nullifies you from being considered a creature that possesses higher intellect.


heh yea, thats what meat tenderizer hammers were made for... ah well, dumb ppl

 

[Jimbo]

<< Is it wrong to cook live animals for a meal? >>

In the wild their predators EAT them alive. That is the beauty of being at the top of the food chain.
Besides, if a crab was large enough (to eat you), how much mercy would it show for you?

 

[datalink7]

Next time, put them in the fridge for a little while. When they get a little cold so they are moving slow (but still alive), throw them in the boiling pot. This should kill them pretty quick from the big difference in temperature (this is what my aunt does with lobsters).

 

[Nefrodite]

or... you could stab them in the brain

 

[wampa]

i don't think its wrong to cook a live animal for a meal, as long as it doesn't get tortured in the process. I bet if you ask a homeless guy this question he would agree with me

 

[Orsorum]

<< i don't think its wrong to cook a live animal for a meal, as long as it doesn't get tortured in the process. I bet if you ask a homeless guy this question he would agree with me >>



*shudder*

I like crabs, and I do think it's the quickest way to kill them... any non-crustacean, yes, I would have an objection to cooking live.

 

[Bluga]

I'm hungry.

 

[lawaris]

<< For some reason, torturing animals solely so they would taste better nullifies you from being considered a creature that possesses higher intellect. >>



nice one singh .... make em' rem' they are "humans" after all !!!:disgust:

 

[cherrytwist]

<< I'm hungry. >>



Man, all this talk of crabs is makin me soooooo huuuuuuungry.

 

[Pepsei]

a good way to kill crab is to stick a chopstick in the mouth of the crab and go all the way to the end... do this before you cook...
if you feel bad about boiling them to death. this way , you kept the shells intact and they're still fresh.

i had a very very expensive sashimi dish in japan... the chef was suppose to be a very famous chef.... took a live salmon, and just slice it up so fast that after he's done, he put the remains (basically a salmon without the meat...) into a fish tank...and it appears that the salmon was still alive for awhile and try to swim...

at the same time, the meat was quite good, but it just felt strange... good thing i didn't pay for that meal.

 

[helpme]

<< I'm hungry. >>

 

[jjones]

<< For some reason, torturing animals solely so they would taste better nullifies you from being considered a creature that possesses higher intellect. >>


And for you to consider boiling a crab as torture shows that even if you had intellect, you prefer not to use it.

 

[MajesticMoose]

If that's what bothers you about crabs, then don't think about what you are really eating. The yellow "mustard" is the stomach contents that exploded. they eat all kinds of dead nasty crap such as people who have been left in the water, etc.

That said, I love crabs and wish i had some right now!

 

[SagaLore]

<< or... you could stab them in the brain >>



LOL

 

[Turkey22]

Hungry!!!!

 

[Renob]

we are on a higher level of the food chain, so too bad for them


So true.