Undercover footage exposes filthy, inhumane conditions and public health risks at NYC live animal markets.

Undercover investigations using hidden cameras have revealed filthy and inhumane conditions at New York City's live animal markets. The nonprofit organization Animal Outlook deployed secret recording devices to document abuses across five locations in Long Island and the city. City records indicate that similar firms have accumulated more than 2,000 sanitation violations over the last four years. Experts warn these environments pose serious public health risks, recalling a statewide five-day market shutdown last year after a bird flu outbreak. Ben Williamson, chief of Animal Outlook, stated the evidence of routine cruelty and health hazards is overwhelming and undeniable. He called on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to protect both animals and citizens by immediately shutting down these operations. Footage captured inside the markets shows metal cages packed tightly with chickens, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, sheep, and goats. Staff members slaughter these animals on-site when a customer decides to purchase them for food or pets. In one specific market, investigators saw stressed chickens with feathers pecked out crammed into tiny wire cages. These confined spaces offered barely enough room for the birds to turn around or move freely.

In damp and chilling conditions, some workers were visibly shivering. Undercover footage captured at live poultry markets in Brooklyn reveals a disturbing reality: employees were filmed roughly handling chickens, ducks, and other animals, piling them into shopping carts before transport to the slaughter room. In one instance, a bird that had not been properly stunned continued to twitch after its throat was cut. Another animal was spotted wandering the filthy room after escaping its cage.

The investigation by Animal Outlook exposed multiple species, including rabbits and various breeds from different farms, confined in close quarters. Experts warn that such tight stacking, where animals cannot spread their wings, creates an environment ripe for disease transmission. Due to fears of retaliation from market owners, Animal Outlook requested that the five markets investigated remain anonymous. However, the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets has publicly named 152 live markets in 1,112 pages of sanitary inspection reports. These documents, obtained by The Humane Society of New York, identified 2,374 violations between 2022 and 2025.

The reports detail a range of unsanitary conditions, including rodent infestations, swarming flies, and filthy cages with feces piling beneath them. Inspectors found blood pooling on floors, clogged drains, and rusty equipment. In some cases, drainage devices were haphazardly constructed from traffic cones. A 2023 complaint regarding Bismillah Hallal Live Poultry in Woodside alleged that chicken viscera and parts meant for disposal instead accumulated at the front of the slaughterhouse, mixing with rodent droppings. The complaint noted that crates of chicken were left in the hot sun directly over dirty water. An inspection confirmed the presence of undrained stagnant water mixed with feathers and viscera caused by blocked floor drains.

HK Live Poultry in Brooklyn faced 29 sanitation violations in a single inspection on March 11, 2025. Issues included starving live animals, operating without a slaughter license, and being overrun with pests. An inspector found between 25 and 50 mouse droppings in the boiler room, more on the second floor, dead cockroaches inside a soap dispenser in the evisceration room, and a cat roaming the second floor. Similarly, a January 5, 2024 inspection of Casa Blanca Live Poultry in The Bronx cited workers for using traffic cones to drain bird blood.

Serious sanitary issues persist at some locations year after year. During a 2023 reinspection of the Bronx Fish and Poultry Market on Third Avenue, inspectors found a bloody, dirty knife left lying around, flies swarming, and feces piling on the floor beneath cages. A visit in October 2025 revealed similar problems: a rusty saw, a moderate buildup of bird feces beneath cages, and multiple puddles of water and blood.

John Di Leonardo, an anthrozoologist and chief of the nonprofit Humane Long Island, has personally rescued dozens of animals from New York City's live markets. He reports that many arrive with broken bones, necrotic infected wounds, and severe respiratory disease. Larger animals, such as sheep and goats, are also kept in close quarters before being slaughtered on-premises. Di Leonardo told the Daily Mail that these conditions pose a grave threat to human life as well. "There were at least eight outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the New York City live slaughter markets just last month," he stated. Hidden cameras captured staff moving live birds in cramped containers moments before killing them. Di Leonardo described these factory farms that supply live markets as "petri dishes for killer diseases.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered a five-day closure of live animal markets in February following seven confirmed cases of bird flu in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Officials mandated that vendors clear all inventory within three days, a requirement some health professionals argued was insufficient to prevent virus spread. Since 2022, the H5N1 strain has infected over 156 million birds across the United States, raising alarms that the pathogen could eventually infect humans.

Di Leonardo stated he personally saved dozens of chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, quails, and partridges from New York City markets. He described these rescued animals as among the most traumatized creatures his team has ever encountered. Many arrived with shattered bones, infected wounds showing necrosis, and severe respiratory infections. Most had suffered injuries where the ends of their beaks and toes were severed.

Video evidence revealed extreme stress as chickens pecked at one another in dangerously overcrowded spaces. Investigators found blood, feathers, and waste pooling on the floor of back rooms surrounded by filthy cages. Markets cited for these conditions also faced reports of pest infestations and poor sanitation practices. Di Leonardo noted that just moments before rescue, these same birds were still being offered for sale to customers. He emphasized that their efforts only reveal a small fraction of the daily conditions inside these facilities.

Undercover investigators from Animal Outlook reported that birds were frequently denied food and water at certain locations. Animals were forced to stand on wire cage floors that injure their feet and block natural behaviors. This confinement caused birds to peck at each other, a clear sign of severe psychological distress. Ben Williamson, executive director of Animal Outlook, called these sites routine centers of animal cruelty and public health hazards operating hidden in plain sight for too long. He noted that despite hundreds of documented violations by state inspectors, nothing has changed. Williamson argued that Mayor Mamdani holds the authority and responsibility to immediately shut down these operations to protect both animals and public health.