Prop 12 and animal welfare
It's good that the U.S. Supreme Court has (barely) upheld California's Proposition 12 regarding pig welfare. Here in the U.S. we annually consume some 10 billion animals (not counting fish), most of which never touch foot to earth or see the light of day, a true crime against nature.
Relatedly, our State Department of Fish and Wildlife continues to issue annual import permits for some two million American bullfrogs, and 300,000 freshwater turtles for human consumption. None are native to California, and all are diseased and/or parasitized, though it is illegal to import and/or sell such products (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 236).
The issues are three-fold: environmental protection, public health, and horrendous animal cruelty. Worse, the majority of the bullfrogs test positive for a lethal chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), responsible for the extinctions of some 200 amphibian species worldwide in recent years.
CDFW Director Chuck Bonham wrote in a 5/19/20 letter to PawPAC: "I share your concern for the danger illegal wildlife trafficking and live animal importation poses to public health and the biodiversity of wildlife resources in California." There's an easy fix: Stop the permits!
Contact Director Bonham, c/o CDFW, Resources Building, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814; email [email protected]
Eric Mills, Coordinator
Action for Animals
Oakland, California
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