Letter: Live animal food markets

Editor:

California annually imports some two million non-native American bullfrogs and 300,000 freshwater turtles for human consumption.  All are diseased and/or parasitized, though it is illegal to sell such products. Released into local waters, the exotics prey upon and displace our native species.

The market animals are kept in horrendous conditions, and often butchered while fully conscious.  Worse, the majority of the bullfrogs carry the dreaded chytrid fungus (Bd), which has caused the extinctions of 200-plus amphibian species worldwide in recent years.

Easy fix:  The Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) needs only to cease issuing the import permits.  The DFW and the Fish & Game Commission have received more than 4,000 letters supporting a ban, from environmental and sporting organizations, animal welfare groups and the general public, Former Resources Secretary Huey Johnson has written twice, all to no avail.

The powers-that-be seem more concerned about politics-as-usual, finances and cultural/racial matters than the REAL issues here —  environmental protection, public health, and unacceptable animal cruelty.

For legislation and/or action, write: Gov. Gavin Newsom and all state legislators, c/o The State Capitol, Sacramento, CA  95814; and Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, DFW Director Chuck Bonham, and the Fish & Game Commission, all c/o Resources Building, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA  95814. Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected].