Staten Island’s Live Poultry Market – Initially Shuttered For 4 Weeks Due To Positive Test – Perfect Breeding Ground For Bird Flu

BIRD FLU OUTBREAKS SURGE ACROSS REOPENED NYC WET MARKETS

NYCLASS AND BIRD EXPERT TO INVESTIGATE CONDITIONS AT BROOKLYN AND QUEENS LOCATIONS TUESDAY

Editor’s note: We’ve previously covered issues related to factory farming and the cramped and filthy conditions in which animals are kept before they’re slaughtered, as discussed by the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine.  These conditions provide a perfect breeding ground for diseases, all the while causing massive pollution and generating a great deal of waste. We also spoke with a rabbi regarding the religious implications of participating in the factory farmed meat industry (99% of meat at supermarkets is factory farmed according to CJFE). In this interview we also discussed the conditions in the slaughterhouse in Postville which was shut down for poor working conditions.  

NEW YORK: The New York Department of Agriculture has confirmed brand new outbreaks of avian flu on March 3rd, March 6th, and March 7th at reopened live animal slaughter markets in Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, a predictable outcome for neighborhood slaughterhouses that operate in conditions that health experts and veterinarians call “a perfect breeding ground for the spread of infectious diseases.” In response to the new outbreaks, NYCLASS will be conducting unannounced investigations into conditions at several live slaughter markets on Tuesday, accompanied by anthrozoologist and bird expert John Di Leonardo, the office of NYC Council Member Robert Holden, and Guardian Angel founder Curtis Sliwa.

Last month NYCLASS released shocking video footage with Queens Councilman Robert Holden showing hazardous conditions and sickly birds filmed at several live slaughter markets in Queens and Brooklyn, taken after the five-day closures due to avian flu outbreaks in February. We predicted ongoing outbreaks of bird flu at NYC wet markets, and we were right.

Edita Birnkrant, Executive Director of NYCLASS and a resident of Queens said, “These latest avian flu outbreaks validate what we’ve been saying all along — that there is simply no way to operate wet markets in New York City during a bird flu crisis without endangering public health. Governor Hochul should have shut down the markets indefinitely last month until there is a handle on bird flu, as we called for. Instead, she is allowing bird flu to flourish in poorly regulated slaughterhouses located in densely populated neighborhoods with zero PPE or safety requirements for the public when they enter. To make matters worse, our state and city agencies won’t even reveal which slaughter markets had bird flu outbreaks last week. The public has no way to know if they purchased infected birds for consumption last week or were exposed to bird flu by being inside infected markets. This is outrageous malpractice on the part of the Governor and our government agencies charged with protecting public health and the food supply. Governor Hochul must immediately shut down the markets to prevent further health hazards to all New Yorkers at these markets which are quite literally breeding grounds for the spread of infectious diseases and bird flu.”

In the past several weeks NYCLASS has documented many sick, bloody, and grievously wounded birds in overcrowded cages being sold for consumption at live markets in Queens and Brooklyn while the bird flu crisis rages on and while our state and city agencies are asleep at the wheel. Some birds had necrotic, infected looking wounds, which is common for birds at these markets. We also found hazardous conditions on the public streets including an open dumpster dripping blood and filled with ripped open bags of rotting chicken bodies.

The public sidewalk and streets in front of and around the markets were coated with biohazards such as chicken feces, blood, feathers, and body parts. Inside the markets customers were in close contact with birds and feathers in the air with zero protective requirements. These markets are perfect breeding grounds for the spread of infectious diseases like avian flu, and they cannot be operated safely in densely populated residential neighborhoods.

Veterinarian Dr. Crystal Heath said, “These local city markets provide the public with a rare, unvarnished look at animal slaughter, but these markets, with thousands of people coming in close contact with highly stressed animals, create the perfect environment for an influenza virus to jump to humans and even potentially reassort with the human seasonal flu, which could lead to a virus of pandemic potential.”

Anthrozooligist, bird rescuer, and President of Humane Long Island and Duck Defenders said, “Testing thirty birds out of possibly hundreds of thousands on individual factory farms and declaring them free of avian influenza, as the recent order by the New York Department of Agriculture asserts, is wildly irresponsible. It also validates that zero testing was being done up until this new order. Factory farms keep birds in such overcrowded, filthy conditions that farmers mutilate birds’ beaks and sever their toes in an attempt to have more birds survive to market after experiencing the self harm and cannibalism caused by keeping birds in such overcrowded and filthy conditions. Aside from avian flu, live slaughter markets are rife with infectious diseases.

“I’ve rescued more than 100 animals from New York City live slaughter markets, and all of them suffered from coccidiosis, aspergillus, staph infection, respiratory infection, or another type of infectious disease. A turkey rescued ahead of Thanksgiving last year suffered a broken wing and septic arthritis; several partridges died the first night they were obtained. None of these animals were surrendered because they weren’t fit for sale, but instead, each one was plucked at random from their cage or found outside a live market after escaping. Covid-19 originated in a live market like the ones in NYC, however, avian influenza has a morbidity literally 100 times worse, with these markets threatening to start the next pandemic in the epicenter of the United States.”

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Rachel McCrystal, Executive Director of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary said, “Woodstock Farm Sanctuary has taken in dozens of animals who can be tracked directly from live markets in New York City. Upon our initial exams and testing, they all are sick—often with bacteria, viruses, or infections coming from unsanitary conditions, lack of medical care, and often long-term neglect. Some of those animals we have rescued are so compromised that they never get better, and pass away shortly after rescue. We have biosecurity quarantine measures in place to make sure that anyone rescued from one of these markets won’t contaminate the Sanctuary property or get our animal residents, staff, or volunteers sick. These are the very same animals being housed in NYC and being sold to the public. It’s not humane or safe.”

Guardian Angel founder Curtis Sliwa said, “It is clear that the state agencies and city agencies who have warned us of the spread of bird flu in general and especially in the wet markets have not put these wet markets in total lockdown or levied heavy fines against the owners and operators. The conditions are inhumane in the wet markets. It can be spread to animals on the outside, and now it’s a danger to humans. The lockdown for 5 days did not work. Now, it’s time to shut down the wet markets.”

Banner Image: Chickens look out from a cramped cage in a factory farm operation. Image Credit – We Animals Media

NYCLASS

Our motto is ‘We love animals and we vote!’ We’re both a political non-profit and an animal advocacy organization. We fight for a more compassionate world for animals and humans alike through street activism and education, grassroots campaigns and passing laws to protect animals and end abuse. At NYCLASS no stone is left unturned in the fight for animal protection.