A company that sends live lobsters in the post via Amazon has been condemned by campaigners, who say that the crustaceans are intelligent, sentient and feel pain.

The live lobsters are tied up and shut in packages, which are then sent across the country, ready for seafood fans to eat.

Fine Foods Specialist, a luxury food company based in London, boast that they can get a high-quality, live lobster to your door the day after you order it. However, animal rights activists argue that this is unnecessary and cruel.

Decapod crustaceans, as invertebrates, aren’t currently covered by animal welfare legislation, which means that they can be legally sold whilst still alive.

In transit and delivery, the animals may be unattended, potentially for long periods if the consumer is not at home to receive the package. They may also be subject to injury if they are treated as any other form of package.

While this would not happen with small animals such as chickens, invertebrates are currently exempt from animal welfare laws.

Professor Alastair MacMillan, former Defra veterinarian, said: “As time goes by and we better understand the natural world we discover the complexities and capabilities of non-human animals. We have known for some time that lobsters and other decapod crustaceans respond to painful stimuli, but recent research has strongly suggested that they ‘feel’ pain. They have the necessary nervous system and there is good evidence that they have consciousness. Posting lobsters live, and our methods of killing them, including boiling them alive, clearly causes them great suffering. It is imperative that the United Kingdom updates its legislation to give these animals protection under the Animal Welfare Act.”