Farmer's Market Chicken Sales Halted

Tough luck for those of us who enjoy strangling, beheading, or killing chickens by other means: the chicken-sellers in the Civic Center farmer's market have been asked to leave.

It's the culmination of a lengthy battle by animal welfare activists, according to the SF Appeal. According to protestors, the chicken vendors kept the birds in unsafe, inhumane conditions. The latest salvo came in the form of a lawsuit against the market's operators.

It would seem that the market has capitulated in the face of litigation, although they wouldn't comment on the case.

For years, customers could buy live birds at the markets. The animals were stuffed into paper bags which were then stapled shut. Customers brought the chickens home and then slaughtered them. Because of their breeding and upbringing, the animals sold at the farmer's market would not have been appropriate to keep as domestic pets.

The move comes alongside another battle over animal welfare: a proposed ban on shark fin soup. In both cases, defenders of animal torture claim that their practices have important cultural ties.