These bizarre images show staff from a seafood restaurant in Singapore beginning their daily routine by taking crabs for a stroll to keep their meat in top shape before being served to customers.

The House of Seafood restaurant in Singapore has a strict crab-walking schedule that involves staff members taking the crustaceans for a stroll around Punggol Point Park.

The restaurant said on Facebook on 18th June that staff members “love their crabs the same way people love their pets”.

They added: “To make sure our crabs are really meaty and satisfy every one of our customers we take out for a stroll.”

However, many netizens called it a publicity stunt that not only backfired but resulted in accusations of animal cruelty.

Netizen ‘Alfred Tan’ commented: “This is appalling, please have some compassion for these animals that you are going to eat. They are giving their lives to feed you and you’re toying with them.”

‘RacAle Guo’ said: “If the food you serve is fresh, there is no need for this. The crabs will feel stressed more than anything as they are being dragged along.”

The restaurant appears to have suffered from poorly executed publicity stunts in the past.

The news site Mashable SE Asia said that in 2019 it invited customers to use a mechanical claw to grab crabs from a tank to eat which led to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) accusing the restaurant of animal cruelty.

The mechanical claw was promptly binned and the company apologised for the incident.

The restaurant then found itself in deep water after it attempted to sell face masks to its customers during the COVID-19 pandemic for USD 15 (GBP 10.80) apiece.

The restaurant has not publicly responded to criticism regarding the ‘crab walking’ post.