OUR VOICE REACHES THE UNITED NATIONS
At Animal Equality, our mission is to end cruelty to farmed animals. Over the last 15 years, our investigations have shown that animals raised and killed for consumption all over the world are in urgent need of help.
Within our work, we’ve found a connection between animal exploitation, global health, and the environment. This link is especially clear in the case of so-called ‘wet markets’ where live animals are transported, traded, and killed – often without protocols in place that could reduce their suffering or better protect the health of people involved.
In April 2020, we launched an international campaign to demand a ban on the sale and slaughter of live animals at these markets around the world. Since then, our petition addressed to the United Nations (UN) has collected more than 569,000 signatures globally.
On June 17, 2021, we delivered these signatures to senior UN officials: UN Secretary-General António Guterres; His Excellency Mr. Munir Akram, President of the UN Economic and Social Council c/o Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN; and His Excellency Nicolas de Rivière, UN Security Council President c/o Permanent Mission of the Republic of France to the UN.
We are asking the UN to publicly acknowledge the risks that live animal sales pose to global health, as well as urge policymakers all over the world to ban wet markets from selling live animals.
This international action marks a great milestone in the fight for animals. Since Animal Equality was founded in 2006, we’ve worked with many important institutions. Today, we’ve contacted one of the most important organisations in the world with a message from animal advocates like you, calling for our cause to be taken into account in global policy decisions. With your support, we have made animals killed for their meat more visible to world leaders.
As Sharon, Animal Equality’s President and Co-Founder, mentioned in the video above, this incredible achievement would not have been possible without you. We’re so grateful for everything our supporters like you have done for this campaign and for advocating for animals.
Actions like this one make our world a better place for animals, and we hope we can count on your support once again. Right now, you can help us continue our life-saving work by making a donation today. From now until June 30th 2021, your contribution will be matched by a generous donor, so don’t miss this opportunity. Together, we can change the world for animals!
SINGAPORE BANS THE SALE AND SLAUGHTER OF TURTLES AND FROGS IN WET MARKETS
Another small but important step has been taken towards ending the cruelty that millions of animals face in wet markets around the world.
In April last year, the Parliament of Singapore began a review of the treatment of live animals sold and slaughtered in wet markets, following public outcry and after many scientists raised concerns about the significant risks these practices pose to human health.
After more than a year, a historic decision was reached by the Singapore Food Agency to ban the sale and slaughter of live turtles and frogs in wet markets.
Alongside brave local activists, our investigators collected shocking images of turtles, frogs and other animals suffering immensely in live animal markets. And, unfortunately, the sale and slaughter of live animals is a common practice in wet markets around the world, not just in Southeast Asia.
This is an important sign of progress since the release of our investigative footage into wet markets in 2020. The road to securing greater protections for animals is long and full of obstacles, but step by step, we are creating a world in which all animals around the world are respected and protected.
WET MARKETS REVEALED
We’ve received enormous public support for this campaign, and our efforts working on it began a few years ago.
Often, when we’re investigating one situation, we’re led into another. That was the case during our team in India’s investigation into chicken markets between 2017-2018. Our investigators infiltrated farms and markets in the cities of Pune, Raigad, and Delhi over the course of six months.
We found that, as is the case in a number of countries around the world, demand for fresh meat means that chickens are often sold and slaughtered on the spot at wet markets. In some cases, animals are picked out to be killed while they’re still alive.
As shown in the video, chickens in India’s wet markets suffer in overcrowded conditions and are deprived of food and water, sometimes for days. Slaughter is carried out without stunning, with animals left to suffer in agony for minutes after their throats are slit. In addition to this cruelty, there are insufficient hygiene regulations at markets, putting traders and consumers at risk of contracting diseases such as typhoid fever.
Rising chicken consumption in India has been catastrophic for animals: more and more of them are being raised, transported, and killed, and increasingly so at live animal markets.
OUR FIRST INVESTIGATION INTO THE CRUELTY OF WET MARKETS
Our investigators are highly trained in infiltrating facilities which exploit animals, and they are also experts in identifying situations that are inhumane, illegal, and also potentially dangerous for humans and the planet.
This is why when our investigators covertly visited wet markets in Vietnam and China they noticed a similar situation to that in India. In April 2020, soon after the beginning of the COVID-19 health emergency, our investigators exposed the public threat posed by the sale and slaughter of live animals in wet markets. These investigations were made possible by generous contributions to our organisation, which help provide the resources necessary for our investigators to do their important work. Please, consider making a donation today, to ensure they can continue
Our footage showed the cruel conditions of unregulated wet markets. We also drew attention to the fact that wild and traditionally farmed animals – including species that would never naturally coexist together – are often kept side by side in small cages.
These animals can also suffer from a weakened immune system, caused by the stress of their transport, confinement, and living conditions. In busy markets, this all adds up to create the perfect breeding ground for animal-borne diseases.
As you might remember, during the early stages of the pandemic there was much speculation about wet markets in Asia, and some experts pointed to the need to review these sites for public safety.
Wet markets exist all over the world, not just in Asia, which is why Animal Equality is calling for a worldwide ban on the sale and slaughter of live animals at wet markets.
In April 2020, we launched an international campaign and petition calling for this ban. In our exclusive footage taken by investigators at wet markets in China, Vietnam, and India, animals including chickens, deer, raccoons, crocodiles and dogs are shown living in filthy conditions, suffering from dehydration, starvation and disease.
DESPITE THEIR DANGER, WET MARKETS CONTINUE TO OPERATE
A few months later, we released a second investigation that revealed that the markets’ threat to public health was ongoing. Despite their danger, these places are still open to the public, continuing to trade and brutally kill animals of many different species.
Given this information, our petition took on greater urgency and we continued to collect signatures.
Recently a report was published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) called for the worldwide suspension of the sale of live wild mammals in traditional markets around the world. This decision was taken due to the high risk they pose for disease transmission to humans, and so our urgency to create change increased once again.
The report calls only for wild mammals to be spared. We believe that no animal should be subjected to the cruelty of being caged and slaughtered. Upon delivering over half a million signatures, we have urged the UN to ban the sale of all animals – both wild and farmed alike – at wet markets everywhere in the world.
Together we are speaking out for animals who are suffering from extreme cruelty, ensuring that none are left behind. As long as we have generous people like you on our side to help fund our work, we can continue to create a world where all animals are respected and protected.