Exotic Death – Podcast #008

EditEarlier this year, an exotic pet dealer’s business was the subject of a hearing regarding animal cruelty, inhumane and inadequate care of the animals they were selling. Right here in the heartland of the USA, in Arlingto, Texas (near Dallas Ft.Worth metroplex), the largest ever exotic animal rescue was effected after undercover investigators blew the whistle loud and long about what was going on with Global Exotics.  By the time rescuers intervened, there were over 27,000 animals left in a warehouse, stuffed in bags, crawling, swimming, clawing one another in confined quarters, starving, suffocating, dying in large numbers. There were iguanas, who were dying from the cold in record numbers – we had snow here in March so one can only imagine how frigid a warehouse might be at night in the middle of winter. My own sister rescued  an iguana when it fell into her swimming pool. Now over a decade later, that iguana has grown as long as I am tall, and is doing well, but he is in a distinct minority. Few people research the needed warm temperatures or are willing to provide the adequate diet and veterinary care that my sister has provided to her friend. There were snakes, frogs, lizards, wallabees, hedgehogs, sloths, lemurs, agoutis, kinkajous, chinchillas, hamsters, ferrets, groundhogs, prairie dogs, geckos, anacondas, gerbils, rats, lizards, frogs, scorpions, boas, turtles, goldfish, mice, spiders and tarantulas. There were reportedly over 20,000 reptiles and amphibians, most captured from their native lands. In all there were over 500 species involved.

Global Exotics, now shut down, was formerly owned by one Jasen Shaw. There is currently a warrant out for Mr. Shaw, a native of New Zealand, for violation of the Lacey Act, smuggling and conspiracy; if you have information about his whereabouts, please all our local USDA at 817-334-5202. A link to a copy of the Wanted poster will be on the blog.

Much like the problems with factory farms and abattoirs, the problem is demand. This is a lucrative business and the callous-hearted who fail to recognize the personhood of animals or even have a shred of respect for other life forms are not bothered by the practice. High death rates are expected in the trade; indeed, the dismal conditions at Global Exotics were not considered a violation of federal standards, but rather violated Texas laws. This is a lucrative business, upwards of $20 billion per year, with an individual Siberian tiger going for $70,000 and a chimp for as much as $50,000. Many of these animals are later abandoned, sometimes at zoos, where they are usually euthanized due to the difficulty of their adapting to another stressor and another environment.

Zoonotic diseases pose such a serious health risk to the community that several health experts recommended destroying the building that USGE used to house the animals. According to experts, at least one in three reptilse harbor salmonella and shigella. Primates harbor many diseases that can be transmitted to humans. Macaques have the herbes B virus. Other animals harbor chlamydia, hepatitis A, rabies, ringworm, tuberculosis, measles, monkey pox, marburg virus, molloscum, contagiosum, dermatphytosis, candiddiasis, treptoghricosis, yab virus, campylobacteriosis, klebsiella and amebiasis; as well as infections from various nematodes, cestodes and arthropods.

Only three workers were responsible for the care for the 27,000 animals.  Reportedly 26,411 were siezed, with another 4,000 dying after rescue. The final toll, after being moved to the rescue warehouse and later to receiving sites around the nation, is unknown. Animals were found living in their own waste, extremely stressed, dying, dead, and cannibalizing one another. Some had stopped eating and died of starvation. Others seemed to have gone mad. It was truly a warehouse of horrors.  Luckily, the Dallas SPCA had a vacant building, soon to become their new facility, which was quietly equipped to care for the animals in the interim, until they could be placed in zoos, sanctuaries, and rescue facilities. Because of their exotic nature, most were unavailable for individual adoption.

The smuggling of these animals into the country is yet another horror.  They have been found with beaks and mouths taped shut, claws bound, in cylindrical tubes, in socks and other tiny horrors, smuggled out in the underwear of some beefy man.  One man had animals in his groin that started moving about – causing, pardon the pun, quite a stir. Another let four birds of paradise loose in the customs office – the birds all died. Another man transported live cobras in his pants; they also died enroute. One man used his prosthetic leg to smuggle a host of animals through customs; another was caught with primates in his pants. As if a long distance flight is not uncomfortable enough, try it the way these poor creatures must endure it. A recently arrested man had ten cobras and fourteen geckos taped to his chest and legs.  Many, many die in transit, but it is still worth it for the large sums of money resulting from the ones that survive and can be sold.  And if the smuggling is uncovered, the fines and penalties are rather mild, which further encourages the practice.

The exotic animal trade does not just provide animals for zoos, pet stores, and homes. They also provide animal parts for delicacies, soups, concoctions that are supposed to cure any number of ailments.  Many turn up on the plates of those who want an exotic meal. Some are skinned and boiled in broth after enduring horrendous treatment for weeks on end. With species going extinct on a daily basis, this is just further disrespect for the beauty, diversity, and magnificence of the natural world. It is a brutal all out assault on our fellow creatures and one that needs to stop and yet is a commercial enterprise around the globe.

What can you do? Avoid shopping at any pet store that carries living animals. While they may be delightful to see, the truth is often horrifying. What you do not see is what happens to those that are sick, the ones in the back room left to die. What you do not see are the thousands that die, suffer and are stressed by transport, not to mention the many that will die once placed in a home.

This, while horrifying, is akin to what happens to animals used for food on a daily basis, and in much larger numbers.  They too live in squalid, confined conditions with inadequate care and attention, unable to be who they were meant to be or live how they were meant to live.  The commodification of exotic pets is exactly the same as the commodification of most of the other animals on the face of the earth, whether dogs, cats, birds, lambs, pigs, cows or chickens.  They all feel, they all want to live. Regulations are not working; more animals than ever are suffering and dying. It is only with a shift in thinking towards respect for all life that things will change. Please learn about the Abolitionist Approach and please consider going vegan.

If you watch some of the videos of the squalid conditions as USGE, be sure to see some of the rescued animals, too. And be sure to go vegan if you are not already.  Look deeply into the eyes of the animals on those videos, and then look deeply into your own soul.

One of the consequences of the exotic animal rescue was to challenge the minimal resources of the local SPCA.  Since the economic downturn, most shelters are experiencing dire situations with a dearth of donations, volunteers and fosters for the animals. If you have room in your heart or home, please consider helping your local shelter or adopting an animal.

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One blog worthy of your viewing time is Mylene Ouellet’s My Face is On Fire. Mylene minces no words in her blog about consumerism and the ethics of choice. As an abolitionist vegan, she never spares the spotlight from anyone who is proving a disservice to the world of nonhuman animals. Better still, she is just starting a new podcast by the same name, which will be on iTunes.  If you want to learn more about Mylene and her work, check out the profile which will soon be on Veganacious (look for it around June 10, 2010).

Dallas News with WANTED poster

ABC News - U.S. Smugglers Hot for Exotic Animal Parts

NY Times - Wildlife Smugglers Test Their Skills

Examiner – Exotic animal rescue

Newsweek’s slideshow – exotic animal trade

My Face is On Fire

Save Me by Remy Zero

Tags: amphibians, exotic animals, frog legs, Global Exotics, IFAW, pet trade, reptiles, tiger bones, wildlife smuggling pet stores, wildlife trade, zoonotic disease

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 4:11 pm and is filed under Animals, Podcasts, Portfolio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.