Live animal and meat markets: The risk of a new pandemic in India

The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging in many countries around the world.

In this context, PETA India has released video footage from live animal and meat markets in India showing shocking hygiene conditions and clear violations of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960), and the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006).

Trade in wild animal meat and slaughtered dogs

The footage proves that dogs are being slaughtered and that trade in the meat of wild animals is taking place. Science is largely in agreement that COVID-19 first jumped from wild animals to humans at an animal market in China. Another theory holds that the disease originated from pigs kept in factory farming conditions.

PETA India is calling on the responsible authorities to close all live animal and wildlife markets and to follow China’s example: that country has plans for the gradual abolition of live poultry markets — which are abundant in India — as they pose a high risk of spreading disease.

The footage shows men at the Ghazipur Murga Mandi market in Delhi cutting the throats of live chickens with their bare hands, skinning birds, and sorting blood-soaked meat. At a fish market in Malancha, West Bengal, entire bags of writhing crabs and squirming eels are visible. At Keera Bazaar in Dimapur, in the state of Nagaland, captured dogs were killed and sold for their meat. Although the government of Nagaland recently decided to stop the sale of dog meat, the illegal trade continues in other states. In Manipur, vendors at the Nute Bazar handled the charred remains of wild animals such as monkeys, wild boars, porcupines, and deer. And at the Churachandpur market, the meat of various wild animals was offered for sale.

PETA demands closure of live animal markets

«The next deadly virus is already at the door as long as raw meat and sick, stressed animals are still permitted to be sold at unhygienic live animal markets,» said Dr. Kiran Ahuja, Vegan Outreach Coordinator at PETA India. «PETA is calling for the closure of these petri dishes for pandemics.» Such practices are a global animal welfare issue.

SARS and other deadly strains of bird flu — such as H5N1, with a 60 percent fatality rate in humans — have also been linked to Chinese live animal and meat markets. Indian poultry farms have at times likewise struggled with bird flu outbreaks. And other diseases transmissible to humans, such as MERS, swine flu, and even HIV and Ebola, have been traced back to animals.

Part of PETA’s motto is: animals are not here for us to eat or exploit in any other way. The organization campaigns against speciesism — a worldview that categorizes humans as superior to all other living beings. To reduce the risk of the next pandemic, PETA offers the free «VeganStart programme» With varied recipes and plenty of tips, switching to a vegan diet is made easy. Learn more about the animal rights movement at wildbeimwild.com.