Whether to buy live animals at the food markets

June 7, 2006

Coming in response to thinking about the live markets of animals in particular turtles I remember a few years ago I was going to school in Oakland and walking thru the Oakland China town and came across a store that had two big boxes lined with large clear plastic garbage bags to hold water with turtles. The water they were in was insufficient and fetid. Many of the turtles were scrambling around. The most significant sight was witnessing at least 3 or the turtles piled on top of each other while literally another turtle stood upon them leaning up on the edge of the barrel and achieved a head view above the barrel. Literally seeming to look around the environment as if peering for where to go. There was no way it could have climbed out. My boyfriend and I were deeply unsettled by this site especially as I have a natural affinity for turtles. We didn't know what to do. The turtles were being sold for 10 dollars each. And we thought

we could buy two of them and set them free somewhere but we didn't know where. In the end sadly we decided not to buy them because we felt like if we buy them we are only propagating the insidious selling of these gentle animals and yet to leave them was really horrible. To this day we both still remember this incident very vividly. So I am just curious what others think. Do you or would you buy an animal and make the difference of life and death to the one you buy and â€œrescue" yet continue by doing so the propagation of the very insidious practice to begin with or do you ignore it, abandoning it and all of the others to die and not buy from the market selling them?There's a place in San Francisco China Town that has chickens in the window in the nasty wire cages with a sign that reads no photographs.I won't buy any produce from them... I do buy from little mom and pop Asian markets all the time for produce and generally I

will go out of my way just to go to one that is only selling vegetables and fruits and no meat products. But then living in El Cerrito I do shop for produce from Ranch 99 and their market has an extensive live sea food section which is always packed that I avoid the whole section of the store. I feel bad shopping there but some of the produce I can only find there. Maybe I just need to look harder for better markets and stop buying from them altogether too. Just curious what others think?-Nikki Lee I offer understandingwherever I am standing;between reason, passion, balance.