Turtles and frogs have been imported by the millions into California for human consumption. These animals are kept in horrible conditions, suffer from injuries and illnesses, and are inhumanely slaughtered.

Please click HERE for detailed background information on animals in the markets.

SOME HOPEFUL NEWS ON THE LIVE ANIMAL FOOD MARKETS FRONT - LETTERS NEEDED!

At yesterday's meeting in Santa Barbara, the State Fish & Game Commission voted 4:0 (Commissioner Hattoy was absent) to go to notice on
our proposed frog/turtle ban.  Hallelujah!  It's taken only 12 years.....

Madeline Bernstein (LA SPCA), Marshall Thompson (American Turtle & Tortoise Rescue), and Santa Barbara environmentalist Stephanie Pappas all gave convincing evidence in support of the proposal.  ACTION FOR ANIMALS submitted copies of the new 60-page report done by former DFG warden, Miles Young, a detailed expose of the market-related problems, with a summary supporting a ban on the importation and sale of all frogs and turtles. The study was paid for by In Defense of Animals, for which I thank them.  Also included in the report were copies of the results of the eight necropsies on market turtles and frogs I had done (graciously paid for by the Humane Society of the U.S.).

None of the opposition showed up at this meeting, but that's likely to change soon.

Mike Flores, President of the Commission, who's pushing for a ban, still hopes to hold a special hearing on the issue before the final vote,
probably somewhere in the Bay Area.  Further testimony will be taken at the Commission meeting in San Diego (October 5&6), with a probable final vote on the matter at the Commission meeting in Redding (November 2&3), or in Los Angeles (December 7&8).  It would be very helpful to have supporters of the ban at these meetings.  Please let me know if you can attend and/or testify.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Letters of support are currently needed.  If you do write, please ask for a ban on both the importation AND sale of frogs and turtles for
human consumption.  With only a ban on importation, I fear that some local entrepreneur might attempt to commercially raise frogs or turtles
(or take them from the wild) for the California markets.

In your letters, focus on the environmental issues, which is the Commission's area of concern (though they are also concerned about the
animal cruelty and human health risks).  Again, ALL of the market turtles are taken from the wild in other states--none are commercially
raised.  Most of the market frogs (American bullfrogs) are commercially raised in Taiwan.  Neither the frogs nor the turtles are native to
California, and they cause environmental havoc when released into local waters, a common (though illegal) practice.  Necropsies have shown frogs and turtles alike to be rife with various diseases and parasites:  bad for the animals, bad for the people who eat them, bad for the
environment when introduced into California waterways.  A total ban on both importation and sale seems the only viable solution.

Send your letters to:

John Carlson, Executive Director,
 and members
STATE FISH & GAME COMMISSION
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA  95814
 fax- 916/653-5040
email

ACTION FOR ANIMALS would appreciate (blind) copies of any letters you send.  Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

Please disperse this alert as you see fit, and many thanks for your help.  If approved, the ban would spare the lives of probably more than
one million animals every year in California, and perhaps inspire similar moves in other states.  There's a crying need for a Federal law
prohibiting the exportation of all of our native wildlife.

Cheers,

Eric Mills, coordinator
ACTION FOR ANIMALS
P.O. Box 20184
Oakland, CA  94620
tel. 510/652-5603