The charity has penned a letter to ministers urging them to enforce laws that mandate humane treatment of recognised sentient beings during their slaughter.

Following an independent inquiry last year, the government listed lobsters and crabs as sentient beings capable of experiencing pain. The study, undertaken by the London School of Economics, found that crustaceans have sophisticated nervous systems that can detect and respond to stimuli, rendering boiling a cruel method of killing them.

Despite these findings, boiling alive remains a prevalent method for cooking lobsters, as pointed out by the Animal Law Foundation. This practice is believed to lower the chances of bacterial infection but subjects the creatures to agonising pain.

More humane methods have been suggested by animal welfare organisations, such as using an electric gun to stun lobsters or chilling them before boiling.

In a survey commissioned by the Animal Law Foundation and conducted by YouGov, 61 per cent of the respondents in Britain disapproved of boiling crabs and lobsters alive. This figures rose to 78 per cent when participants were asked to consider the potential pain endured by the crustaceans during the process.

The practice of boiling lobsters alive is already outlawed in several countries including Switzerland, Norway, and New Zealand, on the basis such methods cause undue distress and pain.