SF - Act/ Cruelty For Sale At Live Animal Markets

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7/21/09: Cruelty For Sale At San Francisco Live Animal Markets

 

LT PHOTO: 4/8/09, A chicken manages to dislodge her head from a tiny cage

packed with other birds. MIDDLE PHOTO: This vendor (Chase Benton) was

stuffing 8 partridges at a time into one bag. RT PHOTO: 6/7/09, These birds

were stacked in direct sun with no water. SOURCE + MORE PHOTOS:

http://www.lgbtcompassion.org/livemarkets/photos-cc.htm

 

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jeffrey.a.ross, erica.derryck,

districtattorney, ACC, kat.brown,

rebecca.katz, richard.lee, mitch.katz,

health.commission.dph, hocfarmersmarket,

amy.brown

 

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TO: San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris; Commission of Animal

Control & Welfare; Department of Animal Care and Control; San Francisco

Department of Public Health; Market Managers

 

Please accept my comments regarding San Francisco's live animal vendors. I

am dismayed the District Attorney has failed to prosecute merchants

functioning in violation of state law. I understand a poultry exemption,

listed exclusively under California Penal Code section 597.3, is cited as

justification to do nothing -- even as birds are routinely confined without

water or shade, squashed upside-down in closed bags, thrown to the ground

from trucks, and crushed inside filing-drawer size cages.

 

California Penal Code sections 597(a), 597(b), 597a, and 597t outlaw cruelty

to all animals. I hope the District Attorney's office prosecutes violators

and seeks maximum penalties as defined by complete law.

 

I respectfully urge the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare to direct

Animal Care and Control and the DA to uphold cruelty laws. Additionally,

please ensure enforcement of the California Food and Agriculture Code.

Section 26602 requires those transporting poultry to bring proper records or

face arrest without warrant. Why doesn't this Code apply to consumers who

move live birds on public transit or inside car trunks for use in slaughter,

religious sacrifice, or animal fighting?

 

I call upon the Department of Public Health to investigate live animal

markets from a human safety perspective. Animals are ferried into

restaurants, buses, rapid transit trains, and shared dwellings -- often kept

alive to be " fresh-killed " prior to meal preparation. Please impose

regulations such as San Francisco's Health Code 050: " No live bird or fowl

shall be kept or allowed in a food facility. "

 

Lastly, I ask market management itself to consider the potential for

personal liability in cases that involve illegal actions by their vendors.

Unethical and law-breaking vendors should be banned from markets.

 

Cruelty is cruelty. Wrenching animals by their feet or wings is cruel.

Audible cries of distress from animals indicate suffering. California law

599b identifies " animal " as " all dumb animals " and California Penal Code

597(b) specifies that " every person who causes any animal...to be tortured,

tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter...is for

every such offence, guilty of a crime. "

 

San Francisco's live animal markets are disgraceful, but city officials have

an opportunity to set a humane precedent. Thank you for your prompt

attention to this disturbing matter.

 

Sincerely,

 

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COMPLETE CONTACT INFORMATION

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San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris

Criminal Division, Hall of Justice

850 Bryant Street, Room 322; San Francisco, CA 94103

email: jeffrey.a.ross, erica.derryck,

districtattorney

 

Commission of Animal Control and Welfare

Attn: Commission of Animal Control & Welfare

City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 362

San Francisco, CA 94102

ph: 415-554-6074

 

Department of Animal Care and Control

1200 15th Street; San Francisco, CA 94103

ph: 415-554-6364; fax 415-557-9950

email: ACC, kat.brown, rebecca.katz

 

San Francisco Department of Public Health

1390 Market St., Suite 210; San Francisco, CA 94102

ph: 415-252-3800; fax: 415-252-3875

email: richard.lee, mitch.katz,

health.commission.dph

 

MARKET MANAGEMENT:

U.N. Plaza (Civic Center)

Christine Adams, Manager

The Heart of the City Farmers Market Community Advisory Board

1182 Market St. #412; San Francisco, CA 94102

ph: 415-558-9455; email: hocfarmersmarket

 

Amy Brown, Director of Real Estate

Real Estate Division City and County of San Francisco

25 Van Ness Ave., Ste. 400; San Francisco, CA 94102

email: amy.brown

 

Alemany Blvd.

Reverend Rance Whiteside

Good Hope Baptist Church

551 Nevada St.; San Francisco, CA 94110

ph: 415-824-9662

 

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION / REFERENCE LINKS

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Live Chickens Sold in Sealed Bags by San Francisco Markets

http://upc-online.org/livemarkets/090624sf_markets_live_chickens.html

Animal Abuse at San Francisco Farmers' Markets

http://www.lgbtcompassion.org/livemarkets/livemarkets.htm

California Penal Code: Animal Welfare Provisions

http://www.anapsid.org/pettrade/penalcode.html

 

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