Undercover Investigation Reveals Shocking Conditions
An undercover investigation uncovers filthy and inhumane conditions at live animal markets in New York City and Long Island. Hidden cameras captured overcrowding, brutal handling, and poor sanitation at five markets, amid over 2,000 sanitation violations recorded at similar operations in the past four years.
City records from the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets list 152 live markets with 2,374 violations between 2022 and 2025. These include rodent infestations, swarming flies, feces buildup, blood on floors, clogged drains, and rusty equipment improvised from traffic cones.
Overcrowded Cages and On-Site Slaughter
Footage shows chickens, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, sheep, and goats crammed into metal cages too small to move. Stressed chickens, with feathers pecked out, shiver in damp wire cages. Workers throw birds into carts and transport them to slaughter areas.
In one back room, a bird twitches after throat-slitting due to improper stunning. Another escaped and roamed a dirty space. Multiple species mingle in tight quarters, raising disease transmission risks, according to experts.
Specific Sanitation Violations
At Bismillah Hallal Live Poultry in Woodside, a 2023 complaint highlighted chicken parts mixing with rodent droppings in stagnant water. Inspections confirmed blocked drains and feather accumulation.
HK Live Poultry in Brooklyn faced 29 violations in a March 11, 2025, inspection, including starving animals, no slaughter license, mouse droppings, dead cockroaches, and a roaming cat.
Casa Blanca Live Poultry in The Bronx used traffic cones for blood drainage. Bronx Fish and Poultry Market repeatedly showed bloody knives, flies, feces, rusty tools, and blood-water puddles in 2023 and October 2025 reinspections.
Public Health and Animal Welfare Concerns
John Di Leonardo, anthrozoologist and chief of Humane Long Island, warns of grave human health threats. “There were at least eight outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in New York City live slaughter markets just last month,” he stated. “These factory farms that supply live markets are like petri dishes for killer diseases.”
Animals arrive with broken bones, infected wounds, and respiratory issues. Many have severed beaks and toes. Rescued birds show extreme trauma, often unable to stand before sale.
Investigators noted birds denied food, water, and natural behaviors on injurious wire floors, leading to feather-pecking from stress.
Recent Bird Flu Shutdown
New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered a five-day statewide shutdown of live markets in February 2025 after bird flu cases in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Markets disposed of inventory within three days before disinfecting—a measure criticized by health experts.
Since 2022, H5N1 has infected over 156 million U.S. birds, with scientists fearing human transmission risks.
Animal Outlook executive director Ben Williamson calls the evidence “overwhelming and undeniable.” He urges Mayor Zohran Mamdani to shut down these operations to protect animals and public health, noting persistent violations despite inspections.
