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<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The San Francisco Commission of Animal Care & Control met on February 13, 2025. \u00a0On the agenda:\u00a0 animal cruelty in the city\u2019s many live markets,\u00a0 presented by the Washington, D.C.-based organization,\u00a0 Animal Outlook,\u00a0 replete with videos of the abuses and violations.<\/p>\n The involvement of Animal Outlook,\u00a0 a national organization formerly known as Compassion Over Killing,\u00a0 founded in 1995,\u00a0 is indicative of the scale and scope of the live market issue.<\/p>\n Eric Mills (right)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Live markets exist,\u00a0 keeping animals in developing world conditions or worse,\u00a0 in almost every big U.S. city.\u00a0 The San Francisco live markets are among those where the abuses have been best documented,\u00a0 for the longest time,\u00a0 but similar can also be readily observed from New York City to Honolulu.<\/p>\n Sadly,\u00a0 the Animal Outlook presentation left other parts of the problem unaddressed,\u00a0 for example data on the numbers and species of animals imported to be sold,\u00a0 the risks they present to the environment and public health,\u00a0 the relevant laws already on the books but ignored,\u00a0 and of course the consistent lack of law enforcement in the live markets.<\/p>\n Many of us have been working on these issues since the early 1990s.<\/p>\n San Francisco live market bullfrogs.<\/strong><\/em> The California Department of Fish & Wildlife annually issues import permits for some two million commercially raised American bullfrogs,\u00a0 plus an estimated 300,000 freshwater turtles for human consumption.\u00a0 These are mostly non-native red-eared sliders and various softshell species,\u00a0 all taken from the wild,\u00a0 depleting local populations.<\/p>\n The California Department of Fish & Wildlife under Chuck Bonham,\u00a0 director since 2011,\u00a0 after a four-year study,\u00a0 has reportedly considered a cessation of issuing the bullfrog permits.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n For reasons unclear,\u00a0 a ban on the turtle imports has not been considered.\u00a0 Imports of both should be banned.\u00a0 \u00a0The frogs and turtles\u2014along with chickens,\u00a0 ducks,\u00a0 pigeons,\u00a0 game birds and more\u2013\u2013are sold at live markets in \u201cChinatowns\u201d throughout California:\u00a0 San Francisco, Oakland,\u00a0 San Jose,\u00a0 Los Angeles,\u00a0 Sacramento,\u00a0 and elsewhere.<\/p>\n The animals are kept in crowded and unsanitary conditions,\u00a0 routinely butchered while fully conscious.\u00a0 This is not acceptable!<\/p>\n California State Penal Code 597.3,\u00a0 Live Animal Markets,\u00a0 <\/em>enacted in 2000, states in part that, \u201cEvery person who operates a live animal market shall do all of the following: \u00a0(1) Provide that no animal will be dismembered,\u00a0 flayed,\u00a0 cut open,\u00a0 or have its skin,\u00a0 scales,\u00a0 feathers,\u00a0 or shell removed while the animal is still alive,\u201d\u00a0 and requires markets to \u201cProvide that no live animals will be confined,\u00a0 held,\u00a0 or displayed in a manner that results,\u00a0 or is likely to result,\u00a0 in injury,\u00a0 starvation,\u00a0 dehydration,\u00a0 or suffocation.\u201d<\/p>\n That sounds good on paper,\u00a0 but is rarely enforced.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Please note that the live markets in the U.S. are nearly identical to those in Wuhan,\u00a0 China, likely source of the COVID-19 pandemic,\u00a0 except that the Wuhan live markets are much more closely policed,\u00a0 especially since the pandemic started.<\/p>\n State and city health Departments should be all over this issue. \u00a0As should the San Francisco SPCA and like organizations throughout the nation.<\/p>\n Again,\u00a0 none of the live market frogs or turtles are native to California,\u00a0 or many other states where they are sold,\u00a0 and all of them who have ever been tested have been diseased and\/or parasitized,\u00a0 though it is illegal to sell or import such products under California Code of Regulations,\u00a0 Title 14,\u00a0 Section 236.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Numerous necropsies over the years have documented cases of E. coli,\u00a0 pasturella and salmonella bacterial infections,\u00a0 all potentially fatal in humans,\u00a0 plus cases of giardia,\u00a0 blood parasites,\u00a0 even one case of malaria.<\/p>\n Worse,\u00a0 the majority of the bullfrogs\u2013\u201362% in one study\u2013\u2013carry a lethal chytrid fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis<\/em>,\u00a0 or Bd for short,\u00a0 responsible for the extinctions of more than 100 amphibian species worldwide in recent years,\u00a0 and known to afflict thousands.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The live market animals are sometimes purchased en masse,\u00a0 then illegally released into local waters by \u201cdo gooders\u201d and certain religious sects.<\/p>\n According to a May 20, 1998 San Francisco Police Blotter<\/em> report,\u00a0 one such aborted incident involved a 14-member Buddhist group caught red-handed about to release \u201c60 squabs,\u00a0 40 Chinese quails,\u00a0 53 turtles and 140 pounds of frogs\u201d into Lake Merced and environs.<\/p>\n While bullfrogs generally do not succumb to the chytrid fungus,\u00a0 they certainly do disperse it,\u00a0 along with other diseases and parasites.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Both Oregon and Washington outlawed non-native bullfrog imports decades ago.\u00a0 Oregon also banned the importation of all non-native sliders and soft-shell turtles.<\/p>\n Santa Cruz County,\u00a0 California banned bullfrogs back in 2012,\u00a0 thanks largely to the work of Kerry Kriger\u2019s organization Save the Frogs!<\/p>\n Clearly, all of California should follow suit. The California Department of Fish & Wildlife did its own in-house study in 2014,\u00a0 Implications of Importing American Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus = Rana catesbeiana) into California<\/em>,\u00a0 which recommended a ban on the frog imports as the best solution,\u00a0 yet the permits continue.<\/p>\n This ain\u2019t rocket science,\u00a0 folks. \u00a0It is mostly about money and racial\/cultural politics,\u00a0 sad to say.<\/p>\n (Animal Outlook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The State Fish & Game Commission has twice voted to stop the permits, recommendations consistently ignored by the Department of Fish & Wildlife.<\/p>\n Since the mid-1990s the Commission and the Department have received more than 3,000 letters in support of stopping the permits,\u00a0 from sporting and environmental organizations,\u00a0 state game wardens,\u00a0 animal welfare groups,\u00a0 veterinarians,\u00a0 university herpetologists,\u00a0 and the general public.<\/p>\n The late San Francisco Judge William Newsom,\u00a0 father of current California governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s father,\u00a0 \u00a0wrote in support of the ban,\u00a0 as did former Resources Secretary Huey Johnson,\u00a0 twice,\u00a0 all to no avail.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n California constituents can help by contacting the powers-that-be within California,\u00a0 urging the proposed ban on the frog and turtle permits.<\/p>\n An easy fix would be to allow only the import of frozen frog and turtle parts for human consumption.<\/p>\n A similar strategy is applicable in other states,\u00a0 but recommending a ban on frog and turtle imports,\u00a0 rather than endorsing a proposal already before wildlife officials and legislators.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The following need to hear from California constituents in particular:<\/p>\n Wade Crowfoot,\u00a0 Resources Secretary,\u00a0 email secretary@resources.ca.gov<\/a> All may be written c\/o Resources Building,\u00a0 1416 Ninth Street,\u00a0 Sacramento,\u00a0 CA \u00a095814.<\/p>\n Failing that,\u00a0 legislation is in order,\u00a0 and perhaps a lawsuit or two.<\/p>\n Merritt & Beth Clifton with Henry the rooster.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The email pattern for all California state legislators is: The California governor and all state legislators may be written c\/o The State Capitol, Sacramento, CA \u00a095814.<\/p>\n Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nby Eric Mills,\u00a0 coordinator,\u00a0 <\/em><\/span>Action for Animals,\u00a0 Oakland,\u00a0 California.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nLive markets exist in almost every big city<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Animal Outlook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nTwo million bullfrogs,\u00a0 300,000 turtles<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWhy no turtle import ban?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nLive markets in the U.S. are nearly identical to those in Wuhan<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nChytrid fungus<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nRelease of some frogs & turtles may kill many<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSave the Frogs!<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nCalifornia Department of Fish & Wildlife ignores the State Fish & Game Commission<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nHow you can help<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
Chuck Bonham,\u00a0 Director,\u00a0 California Department of Fish & Wildlife,\u00a0 email\u00a0 director@wildlife.ca.gov<\/a>
California Fish & Game Commission,\u00a0 email\u00a0 fgc@fgc.ca.gov<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
senator.lastname@senate.ca.gov<\/a>;
assemblymember.lastname@assembly.ca.gov<\/a><\/p>\nPlease donate to support our work:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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