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Animal Rights Activists and Bull Riding Fans Face Off During Protests at Madison Square Garden

January 10, 2023 by 5 comments


The News

Dozens of animal rights activists with Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund and PETA staged three days of protests at Madison Square Garden as spectators entered the annual bull riding show hosted by the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). While some of the PBR fans took a handout explaining why bull riding is inhumane, most of them either ignored or taunted the activists, encouraging them to “get a job” and “eat steak.” According to the protesters, none of them defended bull riding by stating that the bulls are treated well or that the practice is humane.

“The bulls are stuffed into trailers, hauled around the country and provoked with cattle prods, flank straps and spurs to get them to buck,” said Nora Constance Marino, President of Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund (ACEF), a New York-based animal rights organization. “If they want to partake in bull riding, they can use mechanical bulls.”

According to PETA, animals used in rodeo events, including bull riding, “commonly sustain broken bones, punctured lungs, snapped necks, or torn muscles, and they sometimes die in an arena. Anyone who cares about animals should avoid these spectacles of suffering.”

Photo of bull bucking during PBR bull riding event

Bull riders provoke bulls into bucking with cattle prods, flank straps and spurs

ACEF, PETA and other local animal rights groups have been protesting the annual bull riding show at Madison Square Garden for at least ten years. In 2021, their efforts were bolstered by New York State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, who introduced legislation that would prevent bull riding from taking place in the state by banning the tools that bull riders use to make the animals buck. The bill is pending in the legislature’s agriculture committee.

Photo of a bill in NY State that would effectively ban bull riding

In 2021, NY State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal introduced legislation that would end bull fighting in the state by banning the tools used to provoke the bulls into bucking (click photo to see legislation)

In addition to demonstrating at the bull riding events, NYC activists have staged six anti-rodeo protests at the Manhattan home of Andrew Lustgarten, the CEO of Madison Square Garden. Based on feedback from his neighbors, the activists speculate that the protests led him to move out of his luxury condominium on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The PBR is sponsored by several national corporations. Its largest sponsor is Monster, the energy drink company.

Photo of logos of the corporations that sponsor the Professional Bull Riders

Professional Bull Riders Corporate Sponsors


Humane Society of NY Announces Renovations to Reopen to the Public After Falsely Attributing Years-long Closure to COVID

December 7, 2022 by 8 comments


The News

After claiming for over 2.5 years that the Humane Society of New York (HSNY) has been closed to the public due to COVID, the Executive Director of the prominent animal shelter and vet clinic, Sandra DeFeo, has posted a public statement announcing renovations to the lobby that will enable the building to reopen “in 2023.” In 2018, a client of the HSNY’s vet clinic sued the organization because the building is not wheelchair accessible under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines. In talks with shelter animal advocates who have been calling on DeFeo to send the HSNY’s animals to shelters that are open to adopters or to foster homes, DeFeo claimed that the ADA issues had been settled and were unrelated to the ongoing closure of the building.

Photo of the Humane Society of New York's filing of a work permit to renovate the lobby

The Humane Society of New York claims to have begun renovating the lobby in order to make it ADA compliant despite not yet having received a work permit from the NYC Department of Buildings

While the lobby renovations have not yet begun, DeFeo, in her statement, uses a photo of the HSNY’s scaffolded building to suggest that they have. The exterior scaffolding was erected to facilitate repairs to the facade and is unrelated to the interior lobby renovation needed to make the building ADA compliant. As of December 7th, the NYC Department of Buildings has not yet issued the HSNY with a work permit to make the lobby renovations that DeFeo claims are already underway.

Photo of proof that scaffolding at the Humane Society of New York is there for facade work, not lobby renovations, as claimed by the Executive Director

On its website, the Humane Society of New York suggests that scaffolding was erected in order to renovate the lobby, but that’s not true. The scaffolding is there
solely to repair the facade.

In her statement, DeFeo also claims that she intended to begin the lobby renovations in 2019 and attributes the delay to COVID. A search of the Department of Buildings public database, however, shows no building permit applications in 2019. In addition, a 2018 court filing about the ADA lawsuit shows that the HSNY argued against renovating the building to make it wheelchair accessible.

Photo of a court filing in the ADA lawsuit brought against the Humane Society of New York

The Executive Director of the Humane Society of New York, Sandra DeFeo, claims that she planned to renovate the lobby in 2019, but that contradicts 2018 court documents demonstrating her opposition to the renovations

Bonnie Tischler, the former Adoption Director of 22 years who retired in 2020, says that, in 2019, DeFeo made no mention of making the building ADA compliant and that DeFeo told her in 2021 that the ADA lawsuit was settled and that the building was closed due to COVID. “Sandra [DeFeo] had no intention of making the ADA renovations and was planning to keep members of the public out of the building indefinitely. She’s only moving forward with the renovations now — four years later — because of the negative spotlight cast by the protests.”

DeFeo states that she expects “completion of the project in 2023.” However, without a permit and with widespread construction delays due to labor shortages and supply chain issues, she has no way of knowing when construction will be completed.

Animal rights activists became aware that animals were being warehoused at the Humane Society of New York in July 2021 when a whistleblower sent a letter to a prominent shelter advocate informing her that adoptions had come to a virtual standstill 15 months earlier and that DeFeo was keeping the building closed to the public under false pretenses. After conducting an investigation which corroborated the allegations, Donny Moss of TheirTurn and other animal rights activists began calling on the HSNY to send the animals in its adoption center to shelters that are open to the public or to foster homes, where they could live outside of a cage with a family and where adopters could meet them. During a call with Moss in August 2021, DeFeo claimed that adoptions were taking place and that the animals are fine in their “apartments,” a term that DeFeo routinely uses to describe shelter cages. When asked why she wouldn’t send animals to foster homes so that they’re not living in cages, she said that the HSNY “is their foster home.” 

Photo demonstrating that animals are being warehoused at the Humane Society of New York

Eight of the 14 animals listed on the Humane Society of New York’s adoption page in October 2021 were still posted in December 2022 — 14 months later. The Humane Society says that it posts “just a few” of their animals online. With the building closed to the public, adopters have no way of knowing that the other animals in need of a home even exist.

In December 2021, Tischler sent letters and/or emails to all of the HSNY’s board members, many of whom she knew well from having worked there for so long, to sound the alarm about the warehousing of animals and to ask them to intervene. Of the 15 board members she contacted, two responded and agreed to speak to her. During the calls, Tischler told them the activists would stop protesting the HSNY if the board provided her with proof that “adoptions have continued” since the building was closed to the public, as DeFeo was claiming. The board members agreed, but within two weeks, they resigned without providing the information. Tischler suspects that the adoption numbers were so low that DeFeo refused to share the data with them.

In a one month period in 2021, three board members resigned amid the controversy, but their departures, Tischler said, “did nothing to help the animals who were warehoused on their watch and who they left behind when they quit.”

Media coverage of protest at the Humane Society of New York

AM New York, a daily newspaper in New York City, published a story about the campaign to help the cats and dogs being warehoused at the Humane Society of New York

In July 2022, the activists escalated their efforts on behalf of the shelter animals by disrupting Broadway Barks, an annual star-studded animal adoption event in the theater district. When Bill Berloni, an animal trainer with the Humane Society of New York, took the stage, activists pulled out posters and chanted “Stop The Hoarding” on bullhorns to draw attention to the plight of the animals. Bernadette Peters, the host of Broadway Barks, attempted to discredit and marginalize the activists by claiming that the HSNY is open to the public. Twice she said, “Anybody can take a tour of the Humane Society.” Berloni, who remained on stage during the protest, did not correct her. The following day, Christina Fritz, a vet clinic client who has been critical of the the organization’s refusal to allow clients and adopters into the building, called DeFeo to ask for a tour, referencing Bernadette Peters “anybody can take a tour” remark. In response, DeFeo said, “That’s not correct. I don’t know why she might have said that.” An audio recording of that exchange is included in the following video:

In the statement on the Humane Society’s homepage, DeFeo claims that the HSNY has facilitated about 160 adoptions since she closed the building to the public in March 2020. If true, that represents an average of about one animal per week, “an abysmal number,” says Tischler “for a large, prominent shelter in a busy and wealthy residential neighborhood that raises millions of dollars each year in donations.” Tischler and the other activists believe that the average number of weekly adoptions has been significantly lower than one.

Photo of testimonials about the Humane Society of New York turning away adopters

Testimonials posted online about failed attempts to adopt animals from the Humane Society of New York

In early December, the HSNY sent out its annual holiday fundraising letter soliciting donations for its adoption center and vet clinic. The letter is signed by Virginia Chipurnoi, the President of the Board. Tischler and other former HSNY employees believe that Chipurnoi, who is 88 years old, isn’t aware of the letter because she was showing signs of dementia four years ago. In 2021 and 2022, several people who had personal relationships with Chipurnoi sent her emails and texts in an effort to discuss the concerns raised by the activists. She didn’t respond to any of them. “It’s a perfect storm for the animals,” said Tischler. “You have an unsupervised Executive Director who believes that cages are ‘apartments’ who is running an adoption center that’s closed to adopters.”

Photo of Humane Society of New York solicitation

The Humane Society of New York solicits contributions for its adoption center even though it has been closed to the public for over 2.5 years and adoptions have come to a virtual standstill

Activists say that DeFeo’s decision to renovate the lobby instead of keeping the building closed to the public indefinitely is one of several ways they know they’re making a positive impact. DeFeo has also begun to promote adoptions more routinely and to allow vet clinic clients into the lobby, despite the legal risk. Whether or not these changes help the animals who have been stuck in cages for 2.5 years or longer remains to be seen.

For their part, the activists, whose efforts continue to be validated by people who share accounts of failed efforts to adopt from the shelter, will continue to call on Sandra DeFeo and the six veterinarians who work in the HSNY’s clinic to send the animals to shelters that are open to adopters or to foster homes. The veterinarians, Drs. Yaron Schmid, Shingo Soeda, Lauren Postler, Ralph Gutierrez, Liz Higgins and Ellen Hirshberg, have ignored the activists pleas to intervene on behalf of the animals who are being warehoused on their watch.

Photo of Humane Society of New York veterinarians Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid, Shingo Soeda, Ralph Gutierrez, Ellen Hirshberg and Liz Higgins

Shelter advocates say that the veterinarians who work in the Humane Society of New York’s clinic are turning a blind eye to the warehousing of animals in the organization’s adoption center. (From left to right: Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid, Shingo Soeda, Ralph Gutierrez, Ellen Hirshberg and Liz Higgins)


Avian Flu Outbreak in NYC Live Animal Markets Sparks Renewed Calls for Their Closure

November 21, 2022 by 5 comments


The News

In a letter to the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, local and national animal protection organizations are calling on Commissioner Richard Ball to suspend operations at the 87 live animal markets across the state that sell live animals to the public and slaughter them on the premises. The calls come amid an avian flu outbreak at a Queens live poultry market that led to the temporary closure of 34 similar markets in New York and New Jersey. Approximately 170 birds were killed in the Queens facility where the flu was found.

In the letter, the advocacy groups urge Commissioner Ball to “cease operations” at the markets in order to prevent “the next pandemic” from originating in one of them. COVID, the advocates note, was transmitted from animals to humans in a live market in China and spread throughout China before health authorities were even aware of it. Like the live markets in China, many of those in New York City are located in densely populated neighborhoods, where a virus could rapidly spread before being detected.

Photo of news coverage about avian flu outbreak in a live animal market in NYC

Lancaster Farming was the first media outlet to report on the outbreak of avian flu in a New York City live poultry market

While the current strain of avian flu is not easily transmitted from birds to humans or among humans, some cases have resulted in “severe disease that resulted in death,” according to the CDC. Young children and infants are at higher risk. Scientists are concerned that a mutation in the virus could create a pathogen that could sicken and kill humans in far greater numbers. According to infectious disease experts, live poultry markets, which house multiple species of birds, are a breeding ground for mutations.

Photo of animal rights activists protesting live animal markets

When COVID-19 reached New York, mainstream media outlets reported on the ongoing efforts of the advocacy group Slaughter Free NYC to shut down the City’s 80+ live animal markets

Professor KF Shortridge, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong who studied a 2005 avian flu outbreak that originated in Hong Kong, describes live bird markets as an “avian influenza melting pot.” 

Photo of two live animal markets in New York

Over 80 markets in New York State sell and slaughter live animals. The storefront slaughterhouses are open to the public

In April 2022, parents of New York City public school children sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul and NYC Mayor Eric Adams asking them to suspend the operation of live animal market due to an avian flu outbreak elsewhere in New York state. In the letter, Brooklyn resident Irma Labiosa expressed particular concern about the close proximity of a live animal market to her son’s elementary school. “The sidewalk in front of the live animal market next to my son’s school is often contaminated with chicken feces and blood,” said Ms. Labiosa, who signed the letter to Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul. “He could be tracking this waste into his classroom, onto the subway and into our home.”

Calls to suspend operations at live animal markets began in 2018 when public health and animal rights activists with the advocacy group Slaughter Free NYC began conducting educational outreach about the health risks in front of markets in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Despite the fact that the outbreak of COVID lent credence to Slaughter Free NYC’s mission, New York designated the state’s live markets as “essential businesses” which could remain open during the statewide lockdown.

Photo of news coverage about legislation to close live animal markets in NYC amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which scientists believe originated in a similar market in Wuhan, China

NY State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and Senator Luis Sepulveda introduced legislation in May 2020 to suspend the operation of live animal markets

Angered by the state’s failure to protect to the public health, NY State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and NY State Senator Luis Sepulveda introduced legislation to shutter the markets until a safety assessment could be conducted. “We should have learned after the COVID-19 pandemic struck and claimed millions of lives that live animal markets are breeding grounds for zoonotic diseases,” said Assembly Member Rosenthal. “When chickens, ducks, rabbits and other animals are kept in crowded cages and in unsanitary conditions, the risk of disease spread is great and the impact on public health can be tragic. As avian flu outbreaks proliferate around the world, as well as right here in New York City where dozens of live animal markets operate just steps from apartment buildings, schools and playgrounds, it is irresponsible to do nothing. It is time for swift action by the City and State to protect public health. I also look forward to passage of my bill, which would pause the operation of these live animal markets so the state can conduct a thorough evaluation of the safety of these markets.”

Photo of animal rights and public health advocates protesting live animal markets in NYC

Amid COVID-19 outbreak, public health and animal rights activists are calling on New York City and State officials to shut down the approximately 80 live animal markets in NYC

In an April 2020 interview about COVID on Fox News, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, weighed in on the controversy surrounding live animal markets, stating, “I think they should shut down those things right away. It boggles my mind how, when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human/animal interface, that we don’t just shut it down. . . . I would like to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that because what we’re going through right now is a direct result of that.” Fauci, the public face of the COVID pandemic, made no specific reference to the wet markets in the United States.


Animal Rights Activists Protest Humane Society of New York Veterinarians Over Animal Warehousing

November 14, 2022 by 1 comment


The News

Despite pleas from animal shelter advocates, the six veterinarians who work in the Humane Society of New York’s (HSNY) clinic refuse to address the long-term warehousing of animals at the organization’s adoption center. Adoptions at the prominent Manhattan shelter came to a virtual standstill in April 2020 when their boss, Executive Director Sandra DeFeo, closed the building to the public.  According to the New York City Department of Health (DOH), which conducted an inspection in October 2022, the HSNY facilitated an average of one adoption per week between March and October, an exceptionally low number for a shelter that can accommodate up to 175 animals, according to its annual tax statements. Activists have submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the DOH for the inspection report.

During the first two protests at the HSNY, the advocates attempted to speak to the veterinarians about the plight of the dogs and cats, but all of them refused to engage, choosing instead to ignore them as they exited the building. Since then, the activists have become increasingly provocative, stepping up their demand that the vets use their influence to relocate the animals to adoption centers that are open to adopters or to foster homes. Former HSNY employees suspect that the veterinarians, Drs. Lauren Postler, Shingo Soeda, Ellen Hirshberg, Yaron Schmid, Ralph Gutierrez and Liz Higgins, are turning a blind eye to the animal warehousing because they would like to keep the building closed to the public, as keeping their clients out of the exam room makes their job easier.

Photo of Humane Society of New York veterinarians Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid, Shingo Soeda, Ralph Gutierrez, Ellen Hirshberg and Liz Higgins

Shelter advocates say that the veterinarians who work in the Humane Society of New York’s clinic are turning a blind eye to the warehousing of animals in the organization’s adoption center. (From left to right: Lauren Postler, Yaron Schmid, Shingo Soeda, Ralph Gutierrez, Ellen Hirshberg and Liz Higgins)

Before attempting to engage the veterinarians, the advocates sent letters and emails to members of the HSNY’s Board of Directors to inform them that adoptions had come to a virtual standstill and ask them to intervene. The once active board president, Virginia Chipurnoi, ignored hand-written letters, emails and text messages about the issue. Former HSNY employees who worked with Chipurnoi speculate that, at 88, she is no longer able to perform her duties. Two board members, Alexandra Rowley and James Gregorio, said they would provide the advocates with proof of adoptions. Instead, they and one other board member, C. Jones Perry, resigned, walking away from the problem created on their watch. The remaining board members, including the socialite Cornelia Guest, are inactive, elderly and/or live in other states.

“The past and present board members and the veterinarians are complicit in animal cruelty,” said Christina Fritz, a neighbor of the HSNY whose application was ignored when she attempted to adopt a cat and who was turned away when she attempted to volunteer. “The Humane Society of New York isn’t the adoption center they claim it is.”

Humane Society of New York adoptions

By its own account, the Humane Society of New York, a large shelter in a bustling residential neighborhood that receives several million dollars a year in donations, has facilitated an average of about one adoption per week since March 2020. Protesters believe that the number is even lower.

Bonnie Tischler, the HSNY’s former Adoption Director who retired in early 2020 after working at the shelter for 22 years, describes the situation as a perfect storm. “In the absence of supervision and accountability, Executive Director Sandra DeFeo, who describes the animals’ cages as ‘apartments,’ is acting as though the shelter is their forever home. That’s why the veterinarians, who have leverage and influence, need to intervene.” 

Media coverage of protest at the Humane Society of New York

AM New York, a daily newspaper in New York City, published a story about the campaign to help the cats and dogs being warehoused at the Humane Society of New York.

Animal rights activists in New York became aware that animals were being warehoused in July 2021 when a whistleblower sent a letter to a prominent shelter advocate informing her that adoptions had come to a virtual standstill 15 months earlier and that DeFeo was keeping the building closed to the public under false pretenses, using COVID as an excuse to cover up for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Protest at the Humane Society of New York

Animal rights activists in NYC are calling on the Humane Society of New York, which has been closed to the public for 2.5 years, to send the animals to shelters that are open to adopters or to foster homes.

A two-month investigation conducted by TheirTurn corroborated the whistleblower allegations and uncovered other disturbing information. The HSNY ignores adoption applications. As part of TheirTurn’s investigation, thirteen well qualified adopters submitted applications, and not one received a response. At any given time, the HSNY lists just 11 or 12 animals on its website.  With the building closed to the public, adopters have no way of knowing that the other animals exist. In addition, the HSNY does hardly any promotion on social media. Instead of making daily adoption posts across multiple social media platforms, as other shelters do, the HSNY makes just two or three posts each month, and the posts contain no information about the adoptions process. 

Adoptions at the Humane Society of New York have come to a virtual standstill

Despite having dozens more, the Humane Society of New York lists between 11 – 13 animals on its website. With the building closed to the public, adopters have no way of knowing that many other animals in the shelter need to be rescued.

The HSNY has been closed to the public for 2.5 years and has no plans to re-open. According to two lawyers contacted by TheirTurn, the HSNY cannot open its doors to the public due to violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It has already settled one lawsuit and would open itself up to another if it re-opened before making the building wheelchair accessible under ADA guidelines. 

Since April 2022, advocates have staged approximately 12 protests targeting the HSNY. In response to the protests, the HSNY posted a statement on its homepage. In it, DeFeo attributes the low number of adoptions to “diligence.” That explanation doesn’t resonate with the activists. 

“There’s a big difference between diligence and negligence,” said Tischler. “Sandra lists just a fraction of the animals online, does virtually no adoption promotion on social media, ignores adoption applications, has no Adoption Director, has no practical way of introducing people to the animals, refuses to allow fostering, and has no mobile adoption van, which the HSNY can easily afford. So what exactly are the ‘adoption outreach initiatives’ to which she refers in the statement?” 

Photo of Jane Hoffman, the President of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Jane Hoffman, the President of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s animals, has refused to intervene on behalf of the animals being warehoused at the Humane Society of New York (HSNY). Sandra DeFeo, the Executive Director of the HSNY, sits on Hoffman’s board.

The activists say they intend to continue protesting the Humane Society of New York until the animals have been transferred to shelters or foster homes where they have a chance of finding a forever home. 


Will Campylobacter Outbreak Spell the End of Chicken Kaporos in Brooklyn?

November 2, 2022 by 5 comments


The News

On October 23rd, an Hasidic Jewish man from Brooklyn contacted TheirTurn to report that an infectious disease called campylobacter that “originated from Kaporos” was “going around” and that the city’s Department of Health (DOH) is “very aware of it” and “wants to be contacted by reporters.” The source, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation in the Hasidic community, contacted TheirTurn because, for the past seven years, we have been reporting on the health risks associated with Kaporos and the DOH’s refusal to acknowledge and address them. Campylobacter, which can be transmitted from animals to humans and causes fever, nausea, severe abdominal pain and diarrhea, can be fatal among young children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.

Photo of chicken parts on a public street in Brooklyn during Kaporos, an annual ritual animal sacrifice

During Kaporos, the blood and body parts of thousands of chickens who are killed in makeshift slaughterhouses contaminate the public streets and sidewalks in violation of seven New York City Health codes.

On October 25th, the DOH issued a public statement about the outbreak, but it has not yet publicly linked the campylobacter infections to Kaporos. “We are currently investigating an increase in campylobacteriosis cases in Brooklyn. We do not yet know the cause of the increase. While our data is still preliminary, there are approximately 50 cases reported in the affected areas in Brooklyn since the beginning of October.” In its statement, the DOH does not disclose that the “affected areas” are Hasidic neighborhoods, and it does not acknowledge that the “beginning of October” is when tens of thousands of Hasidim came into physical contact with live chickens.

Experts suspect that the number of campylobacter cases is much higher than 50. An underestimation is especially likely in Hasidic neighborhoods where family physicians are reluctant to report campylobacter cases, as required by law, for fear of shining a spotlight on the religious ritual that led to the outbreak.

Photo of article about campylobacter outbreak in Brooklyn during Kaporos

The NYC Dept. of Health is “still investigating” the link between the outbreak of campylobacter and Kaporos, but health officials are aware that the outbreak occurred in Hasidic neighborhoods when the ritual sacrifice took place

Reporters have asked the DOH how many of the people infected with campylobacter are – or were – hospitalized and how many died, but the DOH has not yet answered these questions. It also hasn’t disclosed the neighborhoods where the outbreaks occurred. Instead, it states that it is “still investigating.” 

Poster showing health risks of Kaporos

In 2020, advocacy groups plastered NYC with posters highlighting the risk of zoonotic disease transmission during Kaporos

Kaporos is a ritual slaughter during which participants swing live chickens around their heads while saying a prayer to atone for their sins before Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. In order to facilitate the ritual, vendors purchase an estimated 100,000 chickens, sell them to people who partake in the ritual and kill them in makeshift slaughterhouses erected on residential streets in violation of seven NYC health codes. The birds are held in cramped cages on public streets where they are deprived of food, water and protection from weather extremes for up to several days before being slaughtered. Many die from illness and exposure in the crates before being used in the ritual.

Photo of chickens used in Kaporos ritual where participants were infected with campylobacter

The NYC Department of Health has preliminarily reported that 50 people contracted campylobacter in Brooklyn in early October. It has not yet disclosed that the cases are tied to Kaporos, the ritual swinging and slaughter of an estimated 100,000 chickens

The chicken vendors don’t have permits, but, at the direction of the Mayor, the NYPD assists in the ritual by providing barricades, floodlights and a security presence at an estimated 30 Kaporos sites in Brooklyn.

Over the years, animal welfare and public health advocates have sounded the alarm about the health risks, but the DOH has dismissed their concerns and refused to enforce the health codes on the grounds that “no disease signals have been associated with the practice.” That rationale, however, is a smokescreen. Because the Kaporos practitioners represent a voting bloc that often impacts the outcome of city and state elections, the Health Commissioner, who reports to the Mayor, has turned a blind eye to the obvious health risks; the previous reports of campylobacter; and a toxicology report that describes Kaporos as “dangerous condition” that “poses a significant public health hazard.”

Photos of toxicology report outlining the risks Kaporos poses to the public health

The Mayor’s Health Commissioners have refused to address a toxicology report that outlines the public health risks posed by the slaughter of over 100,000 chickens on public streets during Kaporos.

If the Health Commissioner does, in fact, “want to be contacted by reporters” about the outbreak, then he has probably determined that burying the health risks associated with Kaporos now puts him in greater political and legal jeopardy than disclosing them, in defiance of the Mayor. Here’s why:

  1. Because the toxicology report and other warnings have been in the public domain for many years, the Health Commissioner knows that the public, the media and even elected officials would accuse the Health Commissioner of having “blood on his hands” if people die from an infectious disease outbreak tied to Kaporos. 
  2. Kaporos practitioners and animal rescuers have contracted campylobacter in previous years, but, with 50 or more cases reported in just one year, the DOH can no longer be on record with its statement that “no disease signals have been associated with the practice.”
  3. When COVID began to spread globally, the public learned that infectious diseases can emerge from live animal markets. If a deadly infectious disease emerged from one of the estimated 30 makeshift markets that sell live chickens for Kaporos, then the public would wonder why the DOH didn’t shut it down. The Health Commissioner knows that he, and not the Mayor, would be held accountable, despite the fact that the Mayor instructs the DOH to allow Kaporos. (Note: Kaporos is potentially more dangerous than other live animal markets because the customers themselves physically handle the live animals, and most are not wearing protective gear. In addition, many of the animals are visibly sick and dying.)
  4. New Yorkers are frustrated by the Health Department’s failure to curb behaviors in the Hasidic community that jeopardize the public health. During the first several months of COVID, for instance, Hasidim held large events during which tens of thousands of people came together indoors without masks or social distancing. New Yorkers were infuriated by the reckless behavior, which put the public and health care workers at great risk, and by the City’s refusal to hold the perpetrators accountable. 
  5. Highly-publicized measles and polio outbreaks in 2019 and 2022 shined a spotlight on the need for the DOH to take authoritative steps to prevent disease outbreaks in Hasidic Jewish communities. 
  6. Given the prevalence of avian flu, the DOH knows that some of the estimated 100,000 chickens who are trucked into the city could carry the virus.
Photos of chickens killed during Kaporos in Brooklyn, NY

In 2018, animal rights activists brought dead Kaporos chickens left on the streets of Brooklyn into the NYC Department of Health to call attention to the health risks associated with the ritual slaughter

In 2017, animal rights and public health advocates launched a campaign to compel the Health Commissioner at the time, Dr. Mary Bassett, to enforce the health codes violated during Kaporos. After being subjected to ten months of protests, Dr. Bassett resigned just one year into a four year term. In a speech at the Boston University School of Public Health during which she anticipated a protest, Dr. Bassett acknowledged that politics interfered with her ability to address the health risks associated with Kaporos: “Those of us who work in government face the reality of the fact that the people who appoint us have to go back to the public and back to the ballot box to be reappointed, so there’s always going to be a need for advocacy from people outside of government. For someone who is passionately committed to many issues embraced by advocates, it can be difficult to acknowledge the role that I play as a political appointee. I can’t always be at the barricades.”

Photo of NYC health codes violated during Kaporos, a ritual chicken slaughter that takes place before Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement

NYC health codes violated during Kaporos, a ritual chicken slaughter that takes place before Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement

With the outbreak of campylobacter, which is undoubtedly causing the victims a great deal of pain and suffering, the current Health Commissioner could very well want to join the advocates at the barricades because allowing Kaporos to take place in the future subjects him and the DOH to legal liability and public relations backlash in the event of the outbreak of a more serious infectious disease.