There are 80 live animal markets across New York City, where customers choose from live birds who are then killed on the spot. Animals sent to live markets endure extreme suffering, stacked upon one another in small crates, left in their own waste, often with no food or water and in extreme heat or cold. Moreover, there are no government protections in place for how the birds are slaughtered. Here, death is agonizing. The birds see, hear, and feel every yank, jab, and slash as they are grabbed by the neck, wings, or legs, pinned to the table, and slashed at the throat, left to bleed out until they are no more.

As COVID-19 showed us, wet markets are also prime breeding grounds for new diseases to emerge. Bird flu is already spiraling out of control, and the threat of bird flu turning into a human pandemic continues to grow. Live animal markets in New York City remain a high-risk environment for the transmission of zoonotic diseases that could devastate both animals and people. Inspections have documented dead birds in cages with live ones, maggots, cockroaches, moldy feed, piles of bird and rat feces, machinery full of black gunk, and bags of dripping blood hanging outside.

Governor Kathy Hochul has taken important steps by temporarily restricting these markets for a few days after several bird flu cases were found, but much more must be done to protect animals from cruelty and protect people from another disease outbreak.

Send a message to Governor Hochul demanding to extend the shutdown of New York live animal markets and to take greater measures to protect animals and New Yorkers!