“And obviously, the animals looked frenzied with fear at the dozens of reaching hands.”

“Dear PoPville,

I was heading into DCUSA in Columbia Heights yesterday afternoon when I saw something that disturbed me. There’s always a crowd of people outside the entrance selling random things: fruit, art, toys, shoes, whatever.

This time, I saw a pair of glass tanks, one containing fish, the other turtles.

As you would expect there was a huge crowd around the tank, reaching in, touching the animals, arguing with the vendor, everything.

I passed by again on my way out and the crowd had only gotten larger and louder. They also seemed to be selling pet food, but no other supplies, really. And obviously, the animals looked frenzied with fear at the dozens of reaching hands.

You can probably guess my question before I ask it-it looked like there was already a woman there arguing with the vendor and a policeman about whether it’s permitted to sell live fish and turtles in unfiltered tanks right there on the street. So- is it kosher? Vehemently, it seemed, the vendor and the shoppers believed it was, and were shouting the lady down. But I’m not sure.”