Lawmakers to Introduce Bills to Ban Live Animal Markets, Wildlife Trade in California and New York
This week, Senator Henry Stern (CA) and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (NY) have announced plans to introduce bills that aim to ban live animal markets and the trade of wildlife in their respective states as a measure to prevent future pandemics similar to COVID-19—which is thought to have originated in a wet animal market in Wuhan, China late last year. Stern and Rosenthal are working with animal protection group Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL), which in turn is partnering with animal-rights groups People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and WildAid in order to make the end of live animal markets and wildlife trade a global movement. “Time is of the essence to do away with the unacceptably cruel status quo which has cast a dark shadow over the entire world through COVID-19,” SCIL Founder and President Judie Mancuso said. “As with our other sponsored legislation, California and New York can be models for the rest of the world.”
