The lawsuit brought by the animal rights activists was dismissed in July 1998
by Superior Court judge Carlos T. Bea, who ruled that people have the right to
kill animals for food. He quoted verses from the Bible that said man has dominion
over “every living thing that moveth upon the earth” to support his decision.
Moreover, Bea doubted whether animals even feel pain. “Absent such evidence
of [a pain-sensing constitution], to find pain in the animal would be to indulge
in anthropomorphic speculation, which is hardly a sufficient basis for the application
of criminal statutes,” he wrote. Following the dismissal of their lawsuit,
animal rights activists reached a compromise with the Chinese markets. The
Chinese market owners agreed to house the animals humanely; to kill the animals
before they leave the market and before removing their feathers, skin, or
shells.