Open Letter To The City Of Los Angeles Regarding Prohibiting the Sale of Live Animals for Food
From All-Creatures.org Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies Articles Archive

FROM Dr. Kerry Kriger, SaveTheFrogs.com
May 2020

On behalf of the SAVE THE FROGS! worldwide community and our numerous members, students and supporters in California, I write to urge you to immediately prohibit the sale of live animals for human consumption.

Most human diseases are zoonotic in nature (that is, they are transferred to humans by wildlife), so stopping the introduction of wildlife diseases is the key to protecting humans from future pandemics.

Over two million live American Bullfrogs are imported into California each year, most of them in extremely unsanitary conditions that are perfect for the spread of diseases. Often there are 50 frogs in a single bucket, all crawling on top of each other. The farms these frogs were raised in overseas often contain tens of thousands of individuals living in similarly crowded conditions, crawling on top of each other in extremely high density confinement ponds.

Pathogens finding an easy way to spread from blood and mucus to neighboring frogs.

While California's politicians spent the last two decades ignoring calls to restrict the importation and sale of bullfrogs, the coronavirus pandemic has raised their level of concern regarding disease transmission, and as such, now is the perfect time to gain legal support and action regarding the amphibian trade.

Please read this Open Letter To The City Of Los Angeles Regarding American Bullfrogs that I sent this morning to twelve LA council members.

You can take action yourself by writing them with your thoughts on the matter: their email addresses are near the bottom of that page. They are currently discussing the possible prohibition of live animal markets.

Please be sure to share the article on your favorite social media network or by forwarding this email to your colleagues!

Dear Councilmembers,

On behalf of the SAVE THE FROGS! worldwide community and our numerous members, students and supporters in California, I write to urge you to immediately prohibit the sale of live animals for human consumption.

Since 2006, I have published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals on the topic of wildlife diseases. I have spent much of the last decade educating governments and the public about the inevitable consequences of allowing the amphibian food trade to continue: namely, mass die-offs of native wildlife and the introduction of untold numbers of emerging infectious diseases that could be transferred to humans.

Over two million live American Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana, Lithobates catesbeianus) are imported into California each year, most of them in extremely unsanitary conditions that are perfect for the spread of diseases. Often there are 50 frogs in a single bucket, all crawling on top of each other. The farms these frogs were raised in overseas often contain tens of thousands of individuals living in similarly crowded conditions, crawling on top of each other in extremely high density confinement ponds.

A well known study in Biological Conservation estimated that 62% of the American Bullfrogs entering California are infected with the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), the most damaging pathogen ever recorded in terms of biodiversity loss.

There are likely over one million chytrid-infected frogs entering the state of California each year, mostly destined for the wet markets in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where they will come into contact with store owners, employees and unprotected members of the public. There are no regulations requiring quarantine or disease testing of these amphibians, and there is no enforcement by any federal or state agency to ensure the frogs are healthy. The water these frogs are held in gets dumped down drains and releases billions of fungal zoospores into the environment.

Aside from chytrid fungi, frogs also harbor salmonella and ranaviruses, as well as an untold number of other pathogens, most of which have yet to be identified by scientists as there are so few pathologists dedicated to the study of amphibian diseases. Unidentified pathogens usually go unnoticed until it is too late: mass sickness, rapid die-offs of native wildlife, economic damage and ecosystem collapse.

Most human diseases are zoonotic in nature (that is, they are transferred to humans by wildlife), so stopping the introduction of wildlife diseases is the key to protecting humans from future pandemics.

As such, please protect California’s citizens, wildlife, and economy by immediately prohibiting the sale of live animals for human consumption.

Thank you, and please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Kerry Kriger, Ph.D.
SAVE THE FROGS!
Founder, Executive Director & Ecologist

You can email Los Angeles councilmembers and urge them to prohibit the sale of live animals for food:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

SAVE THE FROGS! protects amphibian populations and empowers ordinary citizens to make extraordinary contributions to the betterment of the planet. We work in California, across the USA and around the world to create a better planet for humans and wildlife.

---

Return to: Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies
Read more Alerts