10.10.25
OPERATION HERALD
Photo (top) credit: RSPCA
A key member of an exotic animal trading business was sentenced this week to a 24-week suspended prison term and a 16-year ban from keeping animals, for his role in the most significant animal cruelty case I’d ever led.
It’s not all fluffy animals! Five years ago, I was an RSPCA Inspector. Casework was common for me, and investigating animal cruelty was my bread and butter. Yet, OPERATION HERALD would become the biggest exotic animal case in RSPCA history and the most significant case I’d ever do.
Photo credit: Shropshire Star
I had spent the best part of 2020 negotiating a new way of working around Covid-19 lockdowns, while still being needed to investigate animal cruelty complaints for the RSPCA and Operation Herald had been in the making for some time. In December 2020, West Mercia Police obtained numerous warrants in a partnership operation related to the importation and sale of exotic animals, including tortoises, snakes, geckos, and other reptiles. Evidence suggested that the conditions and health of the animals were far below the legal requirements.
The logistics of the warrant were organised impeccably, and all eventualities were considered, involving close to 100 people from the RSPCA, West Mercia Police, veterinary experts, transportation teams, and private boarding facilities.
Over 15 hours of graft on the day resulted in nearly 2000 animals being removed, and this exotic animal trading business being shut down. The suffering endured by thousands of animals over the years was too great to comprehend, yet for the individuals at the centre of this money-making scheme, there was little care.
Exotic animals are imported into the UK in their millions every year, often taken from the wild in South America and Asia, driven by purely financial gain. Locals in countries are often exploited, and animals suffer as a result.
Still more to be done
No longer an RSPCA Inspector, I still feel deeply that global policing bodies need to get a stronger grip on the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), which is the fourth largest global crime, making over $17 billion annually.
Exotic animals are called that for a reason. They belong in their original environment, whether that be a jungle, rainforest, or other setting many of us merely dream of visiting- not in a small tank in Telford in front of a television!
Some are sometimes captive-bred, but again, why? It’s near impossible to recreate a genuine ‘home’ environment for an animal that, in the wild, skates across waterlogged forest floors or climbs trees that are hundreds of metres high.
I’ll never forget 10th December 2020 as the day my heart broke for thousands of incredibly beautiful but complex exotic animals, some I’d never even seen in real life. Animals deserve better. Humans need to do better.
Read the story of OPERATION HERALD.
Read more about Naturewatch Foundation’s work to tackle the Illegal Wildlife Trade.
