The following article contains disturbing scenes and images that some may find difficult to watch.
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Animal rights group PETA is no stranger to posting videos online in an effort to expose violations of animals rights. In the most recent footage, the group has set their sights on the atrocities occurring in the wet markets across India.
For the uninitiated, a wet market is a market that specialises in the sale of perishable goods like meat, seafood and produce. Recently, wet markets in China have been in the news for their link to COVID-19. Theories suggest that the disease may have originated at a wet market in Wuhan, China following the sale of an infected bat.
The footage shared by PETA is a collection of videos taken across India at a number of different wet markets, proving that this is not a localised problem but more so a widespread one. In the video, PETA recounts the animal rights violations:
At Nute Bazaar in Manipur, meat from monkeys, porcupines, barking deer, wild boars and migratory birds was illegally sold. At Churachandpur Market in Manipur, meat from monkeys, wild boars and deer were illegally sold as well. The Nagaland government recently decided to ban the sale of dog meat, but the cruel trade continues in several other Indian states.
In addition to the illegal sale of these animals, the footage also shows brutal abuse of dogs. If you’ve not got the stomach to handle the video, which has been cut down, we’ll summarise for you: the merchants tie up the dogs in sacks, throw them down flights of stairs, burn them with blowtorches, and club them. Absolutely sickening.
Director of PETA Elisa Allen said in a statement to Mirror Online:
Places such as these, crammed full of sick and stressed animals, are breeding grounds for deadly diseases. As long as live-animal markets are allowed to operate, humans will continue to be at risk and countless animals will needlessly endure miserable lives and a violent, painful death.
Again, we warn you that the video is difficult to watch. If you’d like to see, check out the video at the top of the page.
