Do crabs and lobsters feel pain? Of course they do!

I can't believe this issue is actually in question.  Let me tell you about the first time I ever had fresh lobster at home.

I was in middle school, and my sister brought home some fresh lobsters from Boston.  Back then, the global economy was limited at best, and it was rather difficult and expensive to get lobsters, from Boston or anywhere else.  She brought back a box of live lobsters with their claws rubber-banded.  My father pulled out a giant pot, filled it with water and turned the stove on.  In about 10 minutes the put was boiling like crazy, and we started to put the lobsters in.

So far so good.  Then comes the traumatic part.

As we were putting the lobsters into the boiling water, you could see that they didn't die right away.  For maybe five or ten seconds, they were still moving around, and you could see them speed up their movements, trying to get out of the pot -- I think this is the real reason why you cover the pots when boiling crabs or lobsters.  Now, I don't know what exactly happened, but then I heard the weirdest sound come from the pot, to which, this day I attribute it to the sound of the lobster's last gasp before death.

Same thing goes for crabs.  You put them into hot water and put the lid on, but you can actually hear them clawing to get out for a moment.

All animals feel pain.  This isn't anthropomorphism; this is a basic biological fact that you come to realize, after interacting with enough animals.

Speaking of animal screaming, once when I was in elementary school, I caught a gecko with my hand.  Apparently I might have squeezed him a little too hard and he let out scream, no kidding.  It freaked me out and I let him go immediately.

Don't needlessly kill animals, and most of all, don't torture them.