The former 'Nurse Jackie' actress teams up with PETA and writes a letter to the New York Mayor to forbid live animal market amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- April 12, 2020
AceShowbiz - Actress Edie Falco has called on authorities in New York City to ban live animal markets amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"The Sopranos" star and PETA animal rights representative sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday, April 10, 2020, comparing the city's live poultry shops to the wet markets of Wuhan, China, where experts believe the COVID-19 virus originated.
"As a New Yorker and an honorary PETA director, may I urge you to take whatever action is necessary to effect the immediate and permanent closure of all live-animal markets in our city?" she wrote, reported the New York Post's gossip column Page Six. "That step could be pivotal in stopping other deadly viruses from ever jumping to humans."
While many of the city's 80-plus live poultry markets and slaughterhouses have shuttered amid the statewide lockdown, some remain open, a PETA spokeswoman confirmed.
Falco also included footage from the factories and makeshift markets, showing chickens crammed in cages and animals being butchered in the streets, noting the vendors are located near residences, schools or parks "where animal waste and animal blood can easily be picked up on shoes and tracked down sidewalks and into restaurants and homes."
"In some, animals are slaughtered on public streets and left to bleed out on the ground," she continued. "We need your decisive leadership on this life-or-death issue."
"You are uniquely positioned to help stop future pandemics and set an example for other leaders by closing the city's live-animal markets immediately."
