‘The next deadly pandemic is inevitable as long as markets filled with sick and stressed animals are still open’

Shocking undercover investigations from PETA Asia have revealed that wet markets in China, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia continue to operate in complete disregard to the current corona crisis that has wreaked havoc across nations and brought world activities to a grinding halt.

The filmed clips show these markets teeming with an assortment of animals including birds, reptiles, rabbits and dogs. Civet cats and bats, who’ve been widely believed to house strains of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and COVID-19 respectively were also up for sale.

Shocking footage

The clips highlight the gruesome conditions of the animals crammed in filthy, dirty cages with some even dead due to starvation, dehydration or suffocation and the sheer callousness of  vendors and customers despite the mounting death toll from the ongoing pandemic..

PETA Asia said  its “investigators observed market goers walking around in flip-flops on floors covered with assorted bodily fluids and handling raw flesh and touching blood-streaked countertops without gloves” at multiple sites.

Footage from the Satria Market in Bali shows small puppies cooped in a low cage propped up next to birds who appear to have been skinned.

In another area of the market, two Indonesian northern blue-tongued skinks languished in a filthy-looking aquarium.

At Indonesia’s Tomohon Market, wild boars, snakes, dogs, and rat meat were openly sold at the market. Workers and customers were seen handling body parts of animals who had been killed on site without gloves or any other protective equipment.

In a Vietnam market, cooked heads of dogs were stacked on a counter along with other body parts near living animals.

Gunnies jam-packed with live, frightened frogs were plonked down next to the mangled bodies of other slaughtered frogs in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei Market.

The footage comes despite COVID-19, which has now claimed the lives of more than 329,997 people around the world, is widely believed to have spawned from wildlife sold at a wet market in Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, in Wuhan, China.

According to scientists, wet markets are ‘time bombs’ for pandemics because crowding different species in one place makes contamination and transmission of viruses easier.

Ban wet markets

PETA and its allies are using the video footage to once again urge the World Health Organization to ban live-animal markets worldwide. 

“The next deadly pandemic is inevitable as long as markets filled with sick and stressed animals are still open,” PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk said.

“PETA is calling on government officials to shut down these petri dishes for pandemics.”

More than 60 bipartisan congressional lawmakers have also written to WHO urging the agency to  call for an immediate closure of all such markets.

PETA added: “There is one decisive action that we can all take right now to help prevent the next global pandemic: Ditch meat, eggs, and dairy.

“Remember: The only truly sustainable and conscientious way to live is vegan.”

PETA has launched an action alert urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to take action. You can support the group by signing up here.

• Read: New York wet markets are ‘clear disease vectors’ says animal rights group demanding shutdown

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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