Hi, it’s Jay, one of Animal Outlook’s undercover investigators. Earlier this year, another investigator and I visited 18 live markets across the San Francisco Bay Area. Nothing could have prepared us for the cruelty we witnessed.
From the moment we stepped foot into the first market, the wall-to-wall cruelty was overwhelming. The sheer number of animals crammed into small cages and tanks was shocking, and the magnitude of suffering was unimaginable.
In these markets we saw turtles and frogs kept in plastic containers with no water, then being sliced up alive. We saw fish relegated to cramped tanks, where some of them were languishing with untreated injuries, and some of them were dead. We saw fish pulled from these cramped tanks to be hit multiple times with blunt instruments in an attempt to stun them before being cut open for customers.
We also saw turtles being decapitated in front of other animals and customers, a frog being put into a plastic bag alive and handed over to a customer, and a turtle left for hours in a mesh bag. We also saw workers grabbing the horns of goats to wrestle them onto a scale, and chickens being kept in extremely crowded cages.
Lynne Sneddon, a fish pain expert at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, analyzed our footage for National Geographic, and said it showed “inhumane treatment of sentient animals.” She also said that “Fish, frogs, and turtles all have receptors for pain and respond to it like mammals” and “Fish are held in the air where they are suffocating. This would be similar to holding a terrestrial mammal under water until it drowned.”
Being in the presence of so much cruelty is incredibly distressing, but I’m glad we got the evidence needed for our team to present to authorities and to ask them to enforce the animal cruelty laws meant to protect these innocent animals.
It didn’t matter what species the animal was - they were all living a life of misery at these live markets.
We won’t give up on exposing animal cruelty while it’s still happening, but we need your help. All donations up to $50,000 will be matched by a generous donor, meaning your support will go twice as far in exposing the truth about what happens to animals all across the country - from live markets in cities to large-scale factory farms in rural areas.
Left: Fish motionless at the bottom of a tank
Right: A softshell turtle trapped in a mesh bag inside a cooler
It really was astounding how close these markets were to homes and shops. People walked past seemingly unaware of the horrors that were taking place just inside the doors. We even saw children walking past on their way to school. We know that zoonotic diseases can originate from live markets.
Animal Outlook team members spoke to a few locals and most had no idea these live markets were located in their neighborhoods. One even said “We should be further than that by now. It’s even more uncomfortable to know that it’s happening right around here.” This is why we need your help. We can’t let this cruelty continue.
Thank you. I know with you by our side, we’ll continue to investigate the animal cruelty that runs rampant across the country, whether it be in live markets or large scale factory farms. Together, we will expose the truth and inspire change.
Best wishes,
Jay
P.S. You can also help animals by switching to a vegan diet today. To find out more on how to do so and to download our free Vegan Starter Guide, visit tryveg.com.
As a non-profit organization, Animal Outlook relies on donations from caring, generous people like you. Every dollar matters. Your support makes a world of difference to farmed animals.
