Jun 24 2009
Animal abuse at San Francisco farmers’ markets
LGBT, a San Francisco-based group, has released a warning about the horrid treatment of animals at San Francisco markets.
Live animal vendors at San Francisco’s farmers’ markets overcrowd animals in direct sunlight with no water, cram animals upside-down in paper bags inside plastic bags, and set aside injured birds for later sale or eventual dispatch. Customers then take them home (often in their car trunks, after carrying them around shopping) and kill them when and how they wish (for food, ritual sacrifice or fighting), unsupervised and unregulated - these “spent hens” (worn-out egg-laying birds) and “small game birds” are exempt from California’s poultry slaughter laws, and these birds (along with rabbits) are exempt from federal slaughter laws.
A video on YouTube (no disturbing imagery) gives an idea of what’s going on in the city’s markets. It is so sad that such gross behavior is being frowned upon by the authorities.
You can help by contacting the San Francisco District Attorney’s office (email erica.derryck@sfgov.org and districtattorney@sfgov.org) and politely ask that Kamala Harris pursue prosecution of live animal vendors whose cases have been turned over to them by Animal Care and Control.
Of course, going vegan is the best way to help all animals. Please consider banning animal parts and derivatives from your diet and life. It’s easier than you might think. And the health rewards are immense.
