Absolutely horrible and disgusting. I despair at people who have no empathy towards sentient creatures, in my experience they're rather sorry, shallow-thinking individuals.

John Baird, Aberdeen, UK

I've eaten live squid in Korea - I found the experience amusing and found the food itself thoroughly tasty. I have my doubts that eating such foods will help to cause a swarm of angry Huns to overun the Korean DMZ. Moreover, I am looking forward to my next culinary adventure - Korean dog soup.

Adam Burgess, Ilsan, South Korea

my dream is for the surgical removal of meat from animals to become common place.
imagine, you keep a cow in your garden, feed it up and then take it to the vets. Then whilst under anaesthetic (sp?) a juicy portion of flesh is surgically removed. The wound is then plugged with butter, herbs and spices, and the flesh is allowed to regrow around it.

Pain will be removed and you will rarely have to completely kill the animal...

how much better would that be??

stuart, Southampton,

It's intriguing that you have no opposition to standard killing of animals. IE, the case of fish, allowing them to suffocate and then serving them up, vs slicing them up to kill them. Granted, cooking the fish while it's still alive seems pretty cruel, but at the end of the day, it's a fish. Go be a vegetarian if you want to moan about fish suffering.

Si, UK,

It's intriguing that you have no opposition to standard killing of animals. IE, the case of fish, allowing them to suffocate and then serving them up, vs slicing them up to kill them. Granted, cooking the fish while it's still alive seems pretty cruel, but at the end of the day, it's a fish. Go be a vegetarian if you want to moan about fish suffering.

Si, UK,

Eating raw or nearly raw meats and fish is considered a delicacy in many cultures, consider oysters, steak tartar, sushi, sashimi, salmon gravlax and caviar to name but a few. In the article above “rowdy frat boys” actually eat a freshly prepared octopus, which being chopped is dead.

“Family eats fish” is questionable whether the fish remains alive during the cooking process, rather the last twitching of nerves like a headless chicken running around. Is this more or less barbaric than preparing lobster or crab which are often plopped live into boiling water?

Eating live is only one step further, but many would argue a step too far. Oysters regarded as a romantic treat are pretty much alive when served, are there equal cries of disgust or are we just succumbing to sensationalism? I can tolerate complaints and disgust from vegetarians, others? Go visit a farm and see where animals are kept and killed.

fuzzyhaha, London, UK

I truly hope this trend doesn't catch up - it is cruel and unnatural. Do you really think the taste will be better if you ate your food alive?!! If it's entertainment you 're looking for, please look elsewhere, I'm sure there are plenty of American 'reality shows' that wil satiate your craving for unpleasantness.

Also, have you considered the health implications of living raw and live food??? Can't be good.

Gaby, Mexico City, Mexico

Cruelty and barbarism seem to know no international boundaries; laughter and celebration at the torture of living creatures is a display of perversity worthy of anything that the ancient Romans would have practiced as their own society was falling into the ruins of decadence and the dust of history. So it is with these.

Jay Sevendogs, Bessem, USA

I had live sashimi numerous times when I lived in Japan. Quite a shock the first time. I was served live Ise-ebi (a type of spiny lobster) which was halved, sliced and served with wasabi and shoyu but manifestly still alive. Delicious.

Alex Vaughan, London, UK