An undercover investigation has exposed ‘filthy’ and ‘inhumane’ conditions in New York live animal markets, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Nonprofit Animal Outlook used hidden cameras to expose the stomach-churning situation at five markets in Long Island and New York City – while city records show more than 2,000 sanitation violations at similar firms in the past four years.
Experts warned that, in addition to shocking cruelty, the conditions also pose a worrying public health risk, pointing to a statewide five-day shutdown of markets last year following a bird flu outbreak.
Animal Outlook chief Ben Williamson said evidence of ‘routine animal cruelty and public health hazards’ is ‘overwhelming and undeniable,’ and called on city mayor Zohran Mamdani to ‘protect both animals and public health by shutting down these operations immediately’.
Undercover footage inside the markets showed metal cages rammed with chickens, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, sheep and goats, which staff slaughter on-premises when a customer buys them.
In one market, stressed chickens with feathers pecked out were crammed into tiny wire cages with barely enough room to turn around. Some were visibly shivering in damp conditions.
Workers were caught on film throwing the birds and piling them into shopping carts before taking them to the slaughter room.
Hidden camera footage from a back room at one market appears to show a bird, improperly stunned, still twitching after its throat was cut.
Undercover footage inside live poultry markets in Brooklyn showed chickens, ducks, and other animals packed tightly in stacked cages, many unable to spread their wings
Inside, multiple species were confined in close quarters, a setup experts warn can spread disease
Workers were filmed roughly handling birds and piling them into carts before slaughter
Another was spotted roaming around the dirty room after escaping its cage.
Animal Outlook asked to keep the five markets anonymous, fearing retaliation from the owners for their exposé.
But there are 152 live markets publicly named in 1,112 pages of sanitary inspection reports by the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets, identifying 2,374 violations between 2022 and 2025.
The reports, obtained by The Humane Society of New York, detail rodent infestations, swarming flies, filthy cages with feces piling beneath them, blood pooling on floors, clogged drains and rusty and dirty equipment – some even haphazardly made from traffic cones.
Animal Outlook’s undercover probe found multiple species, including chickens, ducks, rabbits and various breeds from different farms, housed in close proximity, conditions ripe for disease transmission, experts say.
A 2023 complaint to state authorities about one live market, Bismillah Hallal Live Poultry in Woodside, claimed that ‘chicken viscera and other chicken parts’ which were meant to be washed away down a drain, instead ‘accumulate at the front of the slaughterhouse’ mixed with rodent droppings.
‘Crates of chicken are left out in the hot sun with crates directly placed on the dirty water accumulated in front of the slaughterhouse,’ the complaint said.
An inspection found ‘accumulation of undrained stagnant water and with light accumulation of bird feathers’ and ‘excessive accumulation of water mixed with feathers and bird viscera caused by blocked floor drains.’
John Di Leonardo, an anthrozoologist and chief of nonprofit Humane Long Island, has personally rescued dozens of chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, quails, and partridges from New York City’s live animal markets
He said many of the animals arrive with broken bones, necrotic infected wounds as on this turkey and severe respiratory disease
Larger animals such as sheep and goats are also kept in close quarters before being slaughtered on-premises when they are bought
Another business, HK Live Poultry in Brooklyn, racked up 29 sanitation violations in just one inspection on March 11, 2025 for issues such as starving live animals, operating without a slaughter license, and being overrun with pests.
An inspector found 25 to 50 mouse droppings in the boiler room, more on the second floor, dead cockroaches inside the soap dispenser in the evisceration room, and a cat roaming the second floor.
A January 5, 2024 inspection of Casa Blanca Live Poultry in The Bronx cited workers for using traffic cones as bird blood drainage devices.
Inspectors returned year after year finding serious sanitary issues at some markets.
Workers at the Bronx Fish and Poultry Market on Third Avenue left a bloody, dirty knife lying around, flies swarming, and feces piling on the floor beneath cages during a 2023 ‘reinspection’.
Another visit in October 2025 still found 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 nonprofit Humane Long Island, told the Daily Mail that the gruesome conditions pose a grave threat to human life too.
‘There were at least eight outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the New York City live slaughter markets just last month,’ Di Leonardo said.
HK Live Poultry in Brooklyn racked up 29 sanitation violations in just one inspection on March 11, 2025 for violations such as starving live animals, operating without a slaughter license, and being overrun with pests, the Daily Mail can reveal
Another sanitation report from October 2025 shows Bronx Fish and Poultry Market on Third Avenue had critical and general deficiencies, including ‘a moderate buildup of bird feces’ beneath cages and ‘multiple puddles of water and blood’
Hidden cameras captured staff moving live birds in cramped containers moments before killing
‘These factory farms that supply live markets are like petri dishes for killer diseases. They’re rapidly evolving, and then we’re bringing them into the most populated cities in the world.’
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a five-day shutdown of the state’s live markets in February last year after seven cases of bird flu were detected at stores in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn.
Markets were ordered to dispose of, or sell off, all their inventory in three days – a loophole criticized by some health experts at the time – before cleaning and disinfecting.
Since 2022, the H5N1 virus has infected more than 156 million birds in the US, the New York Times reported last year, with fears growing among scientists that it may develop the ability to jump to humans.
Di Leonardo says he has personally rescued dozens of chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, quails, and partridges from New York City’s live animal markets.
‘The birds we rescue from live markets are among the most traumatized animals we’ve ever encountered,’ he said.
‘Many arrive with broken bones, necrotic infected wounds, and severe respiratory disease.
‘Most have had the ends of their beaks and toes severed.
Footage showed signs of stress among the chickens as they peck at each other in overcrowded conditions
Blood, feathers and waste was also seen pooling on the floor of a back room, surrounded by filthy cages
The markets cited for pest infestations and poor sanitation practices
‘Just moments before we rescued them, these same birds—some barely able to stand—were still being offered for sale.
‘What we see through rescue is only a small glimpse of what’s happening behind the doors of these markets every day.’
Animal Outlook’s undercover investigators said that at some of the markets they went to, birds were left without access to food or water, forced to stand on wire cage floors that injure their feet and prevent natural behaviors, and took to pecking each other, a sign of severe stress.
‘These live animal markets are sites of routine animal cruelty and public health hazards that have operated hidden in plain sight for far too long,’ said the charity’s executive director Ben Williamson.
‘Despite hundreds of documented violations from state inspectors, nothing has changed.
‘Mayor Mamdani has the authority and the responsibility to protect both animals and public health by shutting down these operations immediately.’
