Assembly Bill Threatens Traditional Markets
By Tom Lee

A new assembly bill may soon change the way Chinatown merchants conduct business in their live animal markets. For years small market operators have sold live animals such as turtles, frogs, fish, and birds, for consumption. Aside from some protests from animal rights groups, these markets have largely operated without much regulation from the government. Now, the proposed Assembly Bill 2479, written by Assembly Member Sheila Kuehl, may change these practices.

The new bill, scheduled for a vote next week, would impose stricter regulations on people who operate live animal markets. Any person who treats the animals in a manner not in compliance with various requirements would face a warning on a first offense and an infraction on a second offense, carrying a fine between $250 and $1000.

The requirements include certain killing methods as well as types of confinement for the animals. The bill strictly forbids any animal to be “dismembered, flayed, cut open, or have its skin, scales, feathers, or shell removed while the animal is still alive.” It also requires that no live animals will be “confined, held, or displayed in a manner that results, or is likely to result, in injury, starvation, dehydration, or suffocation.”

The bill targets all live animal markets, but since most of these markets reside in Chinatowns, Asian communities are likely to be affected most. “They don’t understand Chinese culture and customs. We have been keeping and eating these animals for hundreds of years without any problems,” said Chung-Lo Huang, a Chinatown live seafood merchant.

But animal rights groups say cultural customs are not valid excuses for animal cruelty. “There is no justification, legal or moral, for live animal markets to be exempt from anti-cruelty and public health laws,” said American Tortoise Rescue co-founder Marshall Thompson.

For years, animal rights groups such as Thomson’s American Tortoise Rescue and United Animal Nations, have protested live animal markets for the way animals are treated. They say turtles and frogs stacked on top of each other with little room for movement—and with most on the bottom injured or crushed to death—amounts to animal cruelty. The groups also claim the methods in which the animals are killed are inhumane. Often turtle shells are ripped off while the turtles are still alive, according to animal rights groups.

Within the last three years, animal rights organizations have tried to take San Francisco Chinatown merchants to court for animal cruelty, though unsuccessfully. A 1998 Superior Court ruling found that the Chinatown merchants’ handling of live animals did not constitute animal abuse. Again in a February 2000 ruling, an appeals court found that no animal cruelty was committed by Chinatown market operators keeping live birds and frogs in cages and tanks.

As expected, the most recent bill prompted loud protests from the Chinese American community. The Chinatown Neighborhood Association strongly opposes the bill, deeming it unnecessary and a constraint on business practices. “It creates restrictions for fish market operators to conduct business in the Asian community,” said Pius Lee, co-chair of the Chinatown Neighborhood Association. “They are only targeting turtles and frogs. Why are they not [reviewing] Fisherman’s Wharf’s practices of boiling crabs and lobsters alive?”

Lee claims that a major fault with the bill is its treatment of the live animals sold in markets as though they are pets instead of consumable goods. “What [Assemblywoman] Kuehl and the animal rights activists don’t understand is the distinction between animals for food and animals for pets. They are separate. They’re two different issues,” said Lee.

To appease the Chinese community, Kuehl has amended the bill numerous times. The latest version eliminated a 90-day jail term as punishment for violating the bill and instead replaced it with a warning and a fine. The bill also removed “fish” from its list of live animals. The amended bill will now only affect markets that sell live turtles, frogs, and birds, such as quail and pigeons, with the exception of poultry.

The amendments, however, have not relieved some members of the Chinese American community. The Chinatown Neighborhood Association still opposes the inclusion of “birds” in the bill. “Including birds is a problem because it covers pigeons and other birds that are very common in Chinatown. They’re common in all the markets,” Lee said.

Lee also argued that fining violators is not a solution “The punishment is still too much. The fines are too high for these small markets,” said Lee. “We don’t think a penalty is the answer. There needs to be an education program. The fish market operators need to be educated on how to handle the live animals properly.”

Lee suggests Assembly Bill 238, introduced by Assemblyman Mike Honda last year, as a better solution than Kuehl’s bill. The Honda bill would allow local governments to decide whether or not to regulate the sale of live frogs and turtles in markets. It would give local jurisdictions local control over regulatory standards as they see necessary. Honda’s bill is still pending in the Senate Committee.

Whatever the outcome of Kuehl’s bill, some are afraid that further legislation will restrict Chinatown’s live animal market businesses. “If they are successful, soon other [laws may pass] and we will all be eating frozen seafood,” said Lee. “There would be no more fresh seafood.”