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Just when it looked like animal rights activists and merchants in San Francisco's Chinatown had reached an uneasy truce, once again the two groups are squaring off over the sale of live animals in Chinatown's markets.
For a brief recap, the animal activists charged live animals being offered for sale in the markets were being treated cruelly. The merchants argued the activists were interfering with their traditional cultural practices. The activists sued, but the whole issue appeared to be resolved when the merchants agreed to abide by a voluntary code of conduct and the activists agreed, in return, not to appeal a judge’s ruling against the activists.
The whole agreement broke down, however, over hard-shell turtles. The merchants currently remove the turtle's shell and then cut off the animal’s head, which the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals considers cruel. Instead, it wants the merchants to cut off the turtle's head first and then remove the shell. The merchants argue that because turtles instinctively withdraw their heads into their shells, trying to cut the head off before removing the shell is too dangerous.
The markets are very crowded, and "when you try to chop off (the head)while your finger is right next to the butcher knife, you have to beware of the workers walking back and forth behind you," said Michael Lau who works in the market. "Sooner or later you'll chop off something besides the head."
The ASPCA accuses the merchants of failing to meet an October deadline for adopting humane practices on the storage and slaughter of frogs and soft-shell turtles. The merchants, in response, say the ASPCA never really gave them a fair shot at resolving the implementation problems.
The ASPCA is now apparently going to join animal rights groups appealing to the California Fish and Game Commission seeking legislation to regulate the markets’ treatment of live animals.