Victory
Animal Outlook is seeking enforcement of cruelty laws at San Francisco live animal markets (“LAMs”) after discovering examples of abuse as part of a 2022 undercover investigation into live markets across the city. Our investigators documented multiple cases of what we consider to be animal cruelty violations, including:
- A live turtle having their head chopped off with a butcher knife in front of other animals.
- Fish being bludgeoned before being dismembered, and if still moving, hit multiple times with a club or the flat side of a knife.
- Frogs kept in tubs with no water or a small amount of dirty water, and softshell turtles in tubs with no water.
- Fish swimming weakly upside down in small, shallow plastic containers, surrounded by dead and dying animals, or left to suffocate out of water.
- Animals, once purchased, put into plastic bags while still alive, prolonging their suffering.
Live markets like these are not only hotbeds of animal cruelty – they have also been implicated in at least five outbreaks of bird flu in the US, and one prevailing theory holds that COVID-19 was originally transmitted from animals to humans at a live market in China. These markets are not in rural areas; they are located within cities, near apartment buildings and shops.
The Ask
The Petition — To the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare:
As a San Francisco resident, I join Animal Outlook, a non-profit animal protection organization, to raise concerns about recurring animal cruelty at San Francisco’s live animal markets, violating both California and San Francisco law. I am asking you to use your authority to request that the City Administrator take action, including enforcing cruelty violations at LAMs, policing LAMs to ensure compliance, and recommending policies and procedures that will better enable San Francisco Animal Care & Control to protect all animals in San Francisco’s markets.
