Video Shows Diners Eating ‘Live’ Seafood

I’m not big on seafood. I don’t know why, because I live in the land of seafood and fish are arguably one of the “least gross” meats to eat. I mean, I will eat it if I have to. I can deal with almond-crusted tilapia. But squid? Oysters? Lobster? Any crustacean, really? That’ll be a big nooooooooooope from me. (Not to mention that I have an unsaid “no eye” policy. If my meat has eyes attached to it still, I cannot eat it.)

Seafood kinda sorta grosses me out, so you can imagine how horrifying I find this.

I found this video on the Daily Mail. Apparently, people in China are really into eating “live” seafood.

Horrible videos show large fish still moving despite being partially cut up and laid out on plates while being prodded with chopsticks by diners.

One fish, who has half its side slashed off with its flesh laid out in strips in front of it, can be seen repeatedly opening its mouth, as if gasping for breath, as someone prods at it.

A pot of wriggling eels are dumped in a large bowl of sauce on another dining table, and some of them make a dash for freedom, squirming across the table and onto the floor.

A man picks up a an octopus from a bowl of broth and shovels the wriggling creature, which scientists say feel pain and are intelligent, into his mouth as other diners laugh and joke as he does so.

The creature’s tentacles reach out from his mouth and wrap around his face, grabbing at their assailant before he bites them off.

Keep in mind, I’m not sure how much of this is due to the muscle cells and electrical demands of the creatures. (You know, like the “dancing squid rice bowl” thing.)

Wendy Higgins of Humane Society International told MailOnline: ‘This video is truly sickening both in terms of animal cruelty but also in terms of what humans are capable of doing to our fellow creatures.

‘These fish and baby squid will have endured the unspeakable horror and pain of being eaten alive, all to satisfy diners’ lust for extreme cuisine. Their ordeal is protracted and disgusting.

‘There are no laws to protect animals like this in China, and it is that lack of legal recognition that can in itself encourage an attitude of disrespect.

‘Basic respect for animals as sentient, thinking, feeling creatures is absolutely fundamental to protecting them; without that it becomes so much easier for people to divorce themselves from the pain and suffering that they commit.

As I mentioned before, I don’t enjoy seafood on a good day. I could never eat anything that’s still moving, even if it’s technically dead.

Nope nope nope.

Could you?