Wet Markets Remain Open Despite COVID-19 Risk to the Public
At the beginning of the month we launched a global campaign calling on the United Nations to recommend a ban on wet markets—shops that sell and slaughter wild and domestic animals.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH WET MARKETS?: Many experts believe that COVID-19 originated in a wet market, and past pandemics such as MERs and SARs started in one as well. As our investigators documented in China, Vietnam, and India, these markets cause unimaginable suffering for animals, and they also pose an immediate threat to global public health.
SHOCKING NEW FOOTAGE: Now, animal rights organization Peta Asia has released new footage obtained in wet markets in Thailand and Indonesia showing that these markets are still openly in operation. This footage reveals:
- Vendors and customers handling animal body parts without gloves
- Animals languishing with open wounds
- Chickens’ legs tied tightly to the legs of other birds awaiting slaughter
- Cats crammed together in barren cages with no food or water
- A bag stuffed full of live frogs tossed next to a bag of slaughtered, mutilated frogs
- Live ducks and chickens kept in cramped filthy cages, sometimes along with the bodies of their dead flock mates
- Flies swarming around the bodies of dead animals
- Countertops and floors covered with the blood of dead animals
WHAT YOU CAN DO: To end the suffering of the animals in these markets and to protect the health of the human population, a plan must immediately be put in place to shut down wet markets that sell live or dead animals while providing the local community with alternatives. YOU can help by signing our petition urging the United Nations to take action.
