Crayfish removes its own claw to escape hotpot, diner adopts it as a pet

Everyone hangs on to dear life, so they say.

A crayfish was seen ripping off its own claw in a video, that has now gone viral, in a desperate attempt to escape a boiling pot of soup in a restaurant in China, reported the BBC.

The incident was filmed by social media user Jiuke, who shared it on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo.

The video sparked outrage among Weibo users, with many urging Juke to “let him go” and “don’t eat him”, according to the BBC report. Juke later informed his followers he had adopted the crustacean as his pet.

“I let him live, I already took him home and am raising him in an aquarium,” Jiuke responded on Weibo.

The video has made its way to Twitter and Facebook and has evoked a similar response among users.

The BBC report said crayfish restaurants and farms have mushroomed in the country now crazy for crayfish.

It cited a report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua, quoting the ministry of agriculture and rural affairs, saying that the country is the world’s largest source of the crustaceans.

Xinhua also said that output in China rose to 852,300 tonnes in 2016 from 265,500 tonnes in 2007.