I think you're taking this to the extreme, Raiden.

Yes, humans are superior to crabs. Should we treat them badly? No. However, if we're going to eat them eventually, what does it matter how we treat them? Read Banefull's post.

This is how I feel. I can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason I'm just not a fan of the idea of selling live crabs (or any live animal) in vending machines.

Because the vending machine is the lowest of the low when it comes to sustenance. They're where the cheapest, unhealthiest, (and likely most environmentally destructive) food is sold. To put a living creature among those same ranks is incredibly degrading and immoral. The creature is about to give up it's life - about to give back it's energy - to feed another, it deserves a bit more repsect than to be doled out next to the machines selling cheetos and coke, in some subway station.

Re: the kitten pictures. The top three are not for real, the cat couldn't fit through the neck of the bottle. The bottom picture is totally wrong but has anyone else seen the predicaments that kittens get into on their own???

As for the crabs, how about this: At the garden center I work at we keep ladybugs in a refridgerator to keep them semi-hibernated until a customer wants to buy them and then release them into their yard.
Now, granted that's to release them, but they are kept in a waxed container much like a paper cup with a small cotton ball (usually dehydrated by the time we get them) and are sleeping away in shavings.
The crabs are in the same situation. Semi-hibernating in a chilled environment, when an animal of that type is in a natural state of hibernation they usually dig themselves into a mud hole somewhere all curled up and snug until it gets warm enough for them to move around again.

Some cultures eat giant grubs after heating them over a fire.
And as far as Asian markets are concerned here in CA, there are quite a few that have an open iced area for keeping fish and other seafood 'fresh'. The lobsters are kept in a tank with water, but there are dozens packed into a small space. They have rubber bands on their claws so they don't rip each other to shreds.

Now if you want a worthy cause to get fired up about, look in your hometown to volunteer at a shelter, animal or human! There are hundreds of cats, dogs and other animals of 'higher order' that are purposely abandoned, tortured, used for entertainment that desperately need intervention.

Just consider the disappearance of the great Nauga's that we once used the hides of for couches and other furniture. Now, it is an endangered species, rarely seen in the furniture market. What next?