Fur and live crabs and lobsters will no longer be allowed to be sold at markets in the Dutch capital from 2022.

Amsterdam city council has decided to ban the sale on animal rights grounds, a pledge that was part of the current city coalition agreement.

‘Amsterdam has 34 markets, the most in the country,’ said economic affairs chief Victor Everhardt, a D66 liberal democrat, in a press release. ‘In the interests of animal welfare, there will be a ban on the sale of fur and live crabs and lobsters, and it will be actively enforced.’

The city is not the first to take more action in the interest of animal rights.

Earlier in 2021, Israel became the world’s first country to ban the sale of fur to the fashion industry, as part of a wildlife protection law. New animal welfare legislation in the UK is expected to strengthen the welfare rights of crustaceans and molluscs, banning lobsters and crabs from being boiled alive.

Horrified to see live lobsters on ice at the ha ha sustainable fish stall at the @De_Noordermarkt in Amsterdam on Saturday. ‘People like to photograph them,’ the girl told me. pic.twitter.com/KdWULP4jBC

— ThisAmsterdam (@ThisAmsterdam) July 22, 2019

In 2018, the local branch of animal rights party PvdD proposed banning the live sale of crabs and lobsters in Amsterdam, city catering is now vegetarian by default and animals cannot be used for advertising purposes in the city.