Acres, SPCA visit House of Seafood after uproar over crab 'walk' photos
PHOTO: Facebook/螃蟹之家 House of Seafood
PUBLISHED ONJune 22, 2021 7:10 AMByAlexander Kyle Thirumaran
When House of Seafood shared photos of its 'stroll' with crabs at Punggol Point Park last week, the restaurant did not expect to receive backlash from netizens or a visit by local animal welfare groups.
The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said on Tuesday (June 22) that they visited the seafood restaurant the day before.
"Many of you wrote to us with concern on the recent case of crabs being walked as part of a restaurant's publicity efforts," Acres wrote in a Facebook post.
During the visit, the groups spoke with restaurant owner Francis Ng and toured the establishment.
Ng explained to them that "the crabs were not really walked but posed for photos for a short while" and showed "how the crabs were housed in his F&B establishment".
[embed]https://www.facebook.com/ACRESasia/posts/10158846503616523[/embed]
He told AsiaOne that he had no intention to torture or cause any harm to the crabs, saying: "Most importantly, I did not intend to cause unhappiness to animal lovers and activists because of my actions. I greatly apologise if I have caused hurt to them."
The restaurant has since taken down the Facebook post.
Acres also mentioned House of Seafood's previous controversy, when it introduced a live crab claw machine in October 2019 to attract customers into catching their next meal.
ALSO READ: Netizens crabby after House of Seafood takes crabs out on 'stroll' in Punggol
"These cases highlight the need for a standard of conduct for individuals and businesses that trade in live food animals in Singapore," Acres said.
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Both SPCA and Acres pointed out that the live transport, lack of movement for animals, handling, storage and slaughter for food displays mean the animals go through a lot of stress.
"Ensure these animals are not subjected to undue stress or discomfort during the above. Not only for the welfare of these animals but also for food safety and for the consumers to be aware of the treatment of the animals they pay for," Acres concluded.
In response to the latest incident, the House of Seafood said it will be hosting a Facebook live session at 8pm on Tuesday to address concerns by the public and take questions from the media.