California’s San Francisco Bay Area live animal marketplaces have come under fire for their treatment of animals.
In February and March, the animal protection group Animal Outlook looked into the situation. It claimed to have discovered animal welfare breaches at 11 stores that both sold and butchered live animals.
One market employee can be seen in undercover video slicing up a turtle that appears to be alive and moving. In other videos, we see frogs stacked on top of one another in plastic tubs and fish being bashed before being dissected. Additionally, footage reveals chicks crammed into overstuffed metal cages.
“The desire to protect animals against cruelty is inherent in our humanity. Survey after survey finds near-unanimous opposition to animal cruelty. There are laws against it, yet it is allowed to continue under the veil of live markets,” reads a statement from Animal Outlook.
The rules governing animal care in California do not distinguish between marine and land animals. As a result, all 11 of the establishments would be in violation of animal care standards, according to Animal Outlook.
The state prohibits “dismembered, flayed, cut open, or have its skin, scales, feathers, or shell removed while the animal is still alive” on the grounds that it is cruel to the animals raised for live markets.
Breach of animal welfare
Animal Outlook has now reported the specific offenses taking place at each location in a police complaint. “We hereby request that you investigate this matter and enforce both San Francisco and California law against these establishments,” the lawsuit reads.
Cheryl Leahy, the executive director of Animal Outlook, released a statement regarding the investigation. “We want the public to be aware that this type of animal cruelty is happening in all sorts of places, both on massive factory farms and slaughterhouse run by a multinational corporations and right in our own neighborhoods: cruelty and suffering are standard fare across the board.”
“The good news is each of us has the power to take a stand against this cruelty by refusing to purchase animal products.”
American marketplaces for live animals
Leahy called it a “national crisis” and stressed how common live animal trades are—there are hundreds just in the US.
Although “wet markets” do not usually deal in live animals, they are occasionally referred to as “live animal markets.”
These companies have a long history of controversy. And as the coronavirus pandemic started, they came under fresh scrutiny.
Animals were heaped on top of one another with feces, urine, and blood pouring between them in footage obtained by CBS News of the 70 live animal markets in New York City during an outbreak of animal rights demonstrations in May 2020.
Source: “Animal Abuse Documented At Multiple Markets In San Francisco” by Plant Based News
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