CITES Partner Spotlight: INTERPOL’s Project WEB combats online wildlife crime

“As the CITIES conference comes to the end of its first week, I thought I would just add the video in along with this post. Born Free’s CEO Will Travis, talks about some of the issues raised. Although I can’t believe the bid to halt the polar bear trade, was just swept under the table…WTF… Russia, Canada & the US…really have left the polar bears out in the cold…literally! I’m disgusted with their decision; same goes for the poor manatee!! I can’t wait to see what rubbish they come up with next week, for protecting species round the world; who are just about hanging on with their teeth!! Do the delegates from their respective country, actually know the danger some species are in?? I have my doubts given the first weeks bungles, honestly some of them are about as much use as a chocolate fire guard. Take about 30 of us animal advocates from face book, stick us round a table; & I’m sure we could come up with plans to help those in need!!”

Today saw the launch of the first ever internationally coordinated enforcement investigation into the online ivory trade.

Following the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW’s) recommendation and with our support INTERPOL undertook Project WEB, an investigation into the online ivory trade within the EU.

Summing up week one at the CITES meeting in Bangkok

Published on 8 Mar 2013

Will Travers, CEO of Born Free, sums up week one at CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) meeting, covering secret ballots, elephants, rhino, polar bears, manatees and turtles.

The report revealed that there were hundreds of ivory items conservatively valued at approximately EUR 1,450,000 for sale during a two-week period on Internet auction sites in nine European countries.

During this survey of sites by enforcers, more than 660 advertisements for ivory on 61 different auction sites were analysed and as a result of the surveillance, six national and three international investigations were launched in cases where ivory was described as new or where ivory was being traded from abroad.

Project WEB by the numbers:

Estimated €1.45 million worth of ivory

Found in 9 Countries

Across 61 auction websites

In 660 online advertisements

Containing 100s of items made from ivory

Over a 2 week period

Leading to 6 national investigations

And 3 international investigations

This week sees the 16^th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 

The 177 countries that are Party to CITES have already agreed, thanks in part to IFAW’s lobbying efforts, to investigate and prosecute wildlife criminals trading online as well as evaluate or develop their domestic measures to ensure they are sufficient to fight online wildlife crime.

While at least one country has strengthened their legislation to specifically target online wildlife crime and a small number of countries have started to develop strategies for tackling illegal wildlife sales on the internet, many more countries need to deliver on their promise and stamp out online wildlife crime.

Since 2004 IFAW has been highlighting the growing global threat posed by online wildlife crime to endangered wildlife.  A series of IFAW investigations have repeatedly shown that there are thousands of wild animals and wildlife ‘products’, such as ivory, available for sale on the internet all over the world.

Stop The Ivory trade

IFAW has found live primates, big cats, birds and reptiles advertised online while animal parts from rhino’s, elephants, sharks, Tibetan antelopes and sturgeon have also been available to purchase on the internet.

In January 2012, IFAW’s online monitoring found 17,847 ivory products listed on 13 Chinese websites, even though none of these products had the necessary Government approval.

Meanwhile, a four-week investigation in the United Arab Emirates and some neighbouring Arab countries in the same year found 796 adverts featuring live wildlife over 11 websites. None of the adverts had any documentary proof to demonstrate that the sales complied with the law.

In Europe an IFAW investigation in 2011 found a thriving trade in ivory items. The investigation tracked 43 sites in the UK, France, Portugal, Spain and Germany for a two-week period and found 669 advertisements for ivory.

The statistics are disturbing but can be hard to comprehend so let me give you one example that shows the horrors of this illegal trade.

In 2010 a British couple admitted 12 counts of illegally exporting, three of illegally importing, seven of illegally selling and two of illegally possessing specimens under the Customs and Excise Management Act.

The couple in question had been selling animal body parts from owls, a baboon, macaque monkeys, a python, an African penguin, an African lion cub and a Malaysian flying fox.

These items were kept in a store room full of skulls and other animal body parts which, when I saw the pictures, made me think it as a room of death for wildlife.

Highlighting the problem of this trade is an important first step but IFAW has been going one stage further and engaging website companies, law enforcers and Governments in our campaign to stamp out online wildlife crime.

After our 2008 Killing with Keystrokes investigation, where we found ivory was the number one wildlife product being traded online, we encouraged eBay to ban the sale of ivory on their websites and IFAW was very pleased to see them announce this ban in January 2009.

Meanwhile other websites have since followed suit including Alibaba (www.taobao.com) in China, the world’s largest business-to-business and outsource portal site for traders.

However, while banning the sale of wildlife products on websites does restrict unscrupulous traders’ ability to easily profit from these products, there is clearly a need for enforcers to ramp up their efforts.

We have seen traders time and again attempting to disguise their wildlife products to avoid detection by police, customs or website companies such as eBay.

In addition to working with INTERPOL IFAW is working with enforcement agencies across the world to catch online wildlife criminals by sharing the findings of our online investigations, facilitating international enforcement operations and by bringing together website companies and enforcement agencies in order that they can work in partnership in their fight against illegal wildlife sales on the internet.

–TM

Please sign petition:- Take action to help end the trafficking of wildlife online now, click here. 

News Link:-http://www.ifaw.org/united-kingdom/news/cites-partner-spotlight-interpol%E2%80%99s-project-web-combats-online-wildlife-crime

(My thoughts May Offend) Shame Of Cumbrian Man Who Had over 400 Of Child Pornography & Bestiality

“(Please bear with me if my writing is a bit disjointed. Just out of hospital & I can’t think straight when I am so angry & in such pain, I’m not being a martyr, just trying to protect the voiceless; these stories need to be public… I hope you get the general idea of what I am trying to say)”

“One may be offended by my thoughts”

“The link between child pornography & bestiality, has long been known. Most of the worlds well-known serial rapists, child abusers, abductors or murderer’s; started off in life, abusing small animals etc. So why is it that sexual predators have their names put on a Sex Offenders list, for the police to keep tabs on; & inform the public that a sexual predator may be living along the same street…Yet there is no such compulsory Animal Abuse Registry’s? Surely it would make sense to have the names of those who have been charged with animal abuse, torture or bestiality, on such a list… first wouldn’t it? Not only for the police to keep tabs on but also for animal shelters etc. to cross reference anyone wanting to adopt a pet! I can’t help but wonder if such registry’s were in force, would it have stopped any of the above heinous crimes? 

“Obviously the internet has made it very easy for these sick & twisted imbeciles to access sites; which partly fulfil their garish need. But when does just looking , turn into something more sinister? What turns them from viewers to doers? I don’t have the answer to that, but, I believe to protect sentient beings, we need compulsory Animal Abuse Registry’s…this old man has to sign the Sex Offenders list, so the police can keep tabs on him… so why not sign an Animal offenders list, when the two go hand in hand…or are animals not important enough??” 

“Regards the  charges against this degenerate; they are pathetic! Attending a “Sex Offenders treatment plan” is not going to cure someone with such perversions, especially when they have been at it for so long? Taking away his internet access, is an obvious necessity , but it won’t necessarily stop him. How are the police going to know if he goes & buys a laptop, then uses Wi Fi  internet spots; or use a friends internet connection! In reality, if he can’t get internet access,  I can’t help worrying, what is he going to do to calm his craving for his neurosis?”

“His perverted cravings won’t just go away! What if he was to go to the nearest shelter & adopt a dog or get one of the many dogs that are advertised as ‘free to good home’…..perish the thought. The only way to keep tab’s on these repulsive degenerates is for them to sign an Animal Abuse Registry as well as the Sex Offenders Registry. Shelters etc. could check a person’s name & picture against the registry. As it is, almost anyone can obtain an animal this way..Interpol should have implemented the Animal abuse Registry’s at the same time as the Sex Offenders list. For the life of me, I can’t see why this wasn’t done years ago, when reports pertained proof, that those who abuse children, usually started off their sick life by abusing or raping animals first; often to the point where animals usually die from internal injuries. SO WHY ARE ANIMALS NOT BEING PROTECTED FROM THESE RAPIST’S???? The public can already get information about sexual offenders…so why can’t they have the same for those who offend against animals??”

Please sign this petition:- http://www.change.org/petitions/european-parliament-implement-an-animal-abuser-registry  (This petition has been started by Occupy for Animals on date of 18 October, 2012 and has been submitted to the European Parliament for official registration on the same date.)

A man found with more than 400 images of child pornography and bestiality was told his crimes were “a matter of shame”.

Dennis Campbell, of King Street, Aspatria, heard the comments at while being sentenced in Carlisle Crown Court.

He had pleaded guilty to 18 different charges. Three were for possessing extreme pornography, the others for making indecent images of children.

Police in Germany passed details of people using a website containing child pornography, including Campbell, to British officers last year.

Campbell was questioned in June 2011 and three computers in his home were searched.

Officers found a variety of images graded from one to five, with five being the most extreme. Two of these were level five images, 22 at level four, 43 at level three, 40 at level two and 263 at level one.

Police also found 54 images of bestiality which Tim Evans, prosecuting, described as “of the most deeply upsetting kind”.

Mr Evans told the court Campbell claimed to have found the images by accident while browsing mainstream pornography on the internet and looked at the images of bestiality out of curiosity.

“It must have definitely been continuing curiosity to look at 54 of these sorts of images,” he told the court.

Judge Peter Hughes, presiding, said: “It is a matter of shame that, at the age of 60, you should be before the court for such foul offence.” “You don’t get to his age & suddenly start this behaviour. This pervert will have been at it, long before he was caught…I wonder how many poor innocent souls he has had his filthy hands on…be it human or animal!

Campbell, who appeared in court wearing a grey jacket, dark trousers, blue jumper and shirt and tie, was sentenced to a 36-month concurrent community order and ordered to complete a sex offenders treatment plan.“Does this plan contain anything to do with bestiality? 

He also has to sign the sex offenders register for five years and has been banned from owning equipment to access the internet. “This is where the Animal Abuse Registry comes in...the animals deserve some kind of protection”

News Link:-http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/shame-of-cumbrian-man-who-had-400-pornographic-images-1.1006181?referrerPath=home

New Law Aims To Protect Innocent Pets From Abuse

 

“I am blue in the face, having said for so many years, any animal source should have reference to a Animal Abuse Registry…Its so dam simple, I don’t know what the hold up is, one person writes the program/ software & each animal establishment installs in onto their computers. Not hard, then all people need to do is enter details of abusers when it comes to court etc. Then shelter for instance looks up persons name from driving licence (has to be fool proof) if their name is in database…they get no animals & an alert is put on the system that that person has tried to acquire an animal! It would save so many lives, & it’s so easy to do! I used to write bespoke programs for companies…but that was when my brain functioned properly 😆 

They are our best friends, our family members, our sidekicks, and we would do anything for them. 

But sadly, not everyone treats their pets with as much respect, and for those unfortunate animals that find themselves in homes where they are abused, protection is needed.

In response to the heart wrenching and disturbing video of a Harlem man violently kicking his dog in an elevator, City Council has proposed much needed legislation to protect these defenceless and yet still loyal animals.

Though 28 year old Brian Freeman was arrested and charged with torturing an animal, the damage has been done, and there is no legal mechanism in place to prevent it from re-occurring with another animal.  “We want to keep defenseless animals out of the hands of known abusers,” said Council Member Peter Vallone, who is co-sponsoring the legislation.”Right here in Astoria, we had a punk who threw his dog out of a window, and right now there’s nothing stopping him from going to an animal shelter and adopting a puppy.”

This legislation involves a registry which shelters would be required to check before giving pets to prospective owners.  If a name appears on the list that person would be unable to adopt.  The legislation unfortunately does not cover pet stores, however it does make it more difficult for offenders to purchase pets.

The registry would be shared among law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, humane societies, societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, dog or cat protective associations, animal control officers, pet shops and animal shelters.

A first offence leads to a 5 year ban on pet adoption, and for a subsequent offence the name of the perpetrator would be on the list for 10 years. Crimes that would result in inclusion in the registry include among others, animal fighting, abandonment, aggravated cruelty and failure to provide proper sustenance.

Some would say that even this is not enough, that known abusers should never be allowed to have another pet, but it does send a big message.  Pets are faithful, love us unconditionally, regularly protect us from danger, and should be protected from all harm.

News Link:-http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/09/new-law-aims-to-protect-innocent-pets-from-abuse/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LifeWithDogs+%28Life+With+Dogs%29

 

Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits

“Please watch the video, at the link below that accompanies this news – Note -there are some graphic images of poached elephants.”

Published: September 3, 2012

GARAMBA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of Congo — In 30 years of fighting poachers, Paul Onyango had never seen anything like this. Twenty-two dead elephants, including several very young ones, clumped together on the open savanna, many killed by a single bullet to the top of the head.

There were no tracks leading away, no sign that the poachers had stalked their prey from the ground. The tusks had been hacked away, but none of the meat — and subsistence poachers almost always carve themselves a little meat for the long walk home.

Several days later, in early April, the Garamba National Park guards spotted a Ugandan military helicopter flying very low over the park, on an unauthorized flight, but they said it abruptly turned around after being detected. Park officials, scientists and the Congolese authorities now believe that the Ugandan military — one of the Pentagon’s closest partners in Africa — killed the 22 elephants from a helicopter and spirited away more than a million dollars’ worth of ivory.

“They were good shots, very good shots,” said Mr. Onyango, Garamba’s chief ranger. “They even shot the babies. Why? It was like they came here to destroy everything.”

Africa is in the midst of an epic elephant slaughter. Conservation groups say poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants a year, more than at any time in the previous two decades, with the underground ivory trade becoming increasingly militarized.

Like blood diamonds from Sierra Leone or plundered minerals from Congo, ivory, it seems, is the latest conflict resource in Africa, dragged out of remote battle zones, easily converted into cash and now fueling conflicts across the continent.

Some of Africa’s most notorious armed groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Shabab and Darfur’s janjaweed, are hunting down elephants and using the tusks to buy weapons and sustain their mayhem. Organized crime syndicates are linking up with them to move the ivory around the world, exploiting turbulent states, porous borders and corrupt officials from sub-Saharan Africa to China, law enforcement officials say.

But it is not just outlaws cashing in. Members of some of the African armies that the American government trains and supports with millions of taxpayer dollars — like the Ugandan military, the Congolese Army and newly independent South Sudan’s military — have been implicated in poaching elephants and dealing in ivory.

Congolese soldiers are often arrested for it. South Sudanese forces frequently battle wildlife rangers. Interpol, the international police network, is now helping to investigate the mass elephant killings in the Garamba park, trying to match DNA samples from the animals’ skulls to a large shipment of tusks, marked “household goods,” recently seized at a Ugandan airport.

The vast majority of the illegal ivory — experts say as much as 70 percent — is flowing to China, and though the Chinese have coveted ivory for centuries, never before have so many of them been able to afford it. China’s economic boom has created a vast middle class, pushing the price of ivory to a stratospheric $1,000 per pound on the streets of Beijing.

High-ranking officers in the People’s Liberation Army have a fondness for ivory trinkets as gifts. Chinese online forums offer a thriving, and essentially unregulated, market for ivory chopsticks, bookmarks, rings, cups and combs, along with helpful tips on how to smuggle them (wrap the ivory in tinfoil, says one Web site, to throw off X-ray machines).

Last year, more than 150 Chinese citizens were arrested across Africa, from Kenya to Nigeria, for smuggling ivory. And there is growing evidence that poaching increases in elephant-rich areas where Chinese construction workers are building roads.

“China is the epicenter of demand,” said Robert Hormats, a senior State Department official. “Without the demand from China, this would all but dry up.”

He said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who condemned conflict minerals from Congo a few years ago, was pushing the ivory issue with the Chinese “at the highest levels” and that she was “going to spend a considerable amount of time and effort to address this, in a very bold way.”

Foreigners have been decimating African elephants for generations. “White gold” was one of the primary reasons King Leopold II of Belgium turned Congo into his own personal fief in the late 19th century, leading to the brutal excesses of the upriver ivory stations thinly fictionalized in Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart of Darkness” and planting the seeds for Congo’s free fall today.

Ivory Coast got its name from the teeming elephant herds that used to frolic in its forests. Today, after decades of carnage, there is almost no ivory left.

The demand for ivory has surged to the point that the tusks of a single adult elephant can be worth more than 10 times the average annual income in many African countries. In Tanzania, impoverished villagers are poisoning pumpkins and rolling them into the road for elephants to eat. In Gabon, subsistence hunters deep in the rain forest are being enlisted to kill elephants and hand over the tusks, sometimes for as little as a sack of salt.

Last year, poaching levels in Africa were at their highest since international monitors began keeping detailed records in 2002. And 2011 broke the record for the amount of illegal ivory seized worldwide, at 38.8 tons (equaling the tusks from more than 4,000 dead elephants). Law enforcement officials say the sharp increase in large seizures is a clear sign that organized crime has slipped into the ivory underworld, because only a well-oiled criminal machine — with the help of corrupt officials — could move hundreds of pounds of tusks thousands of miles across the globe, often using specially made shipping containers with secret compartments.

The smugglers are “Africa-based, Asian-run crime syndicates,” said Tom Milliken, director of the Elephant Trade Information System, an international ivory monitoring project, and “highly adaptive to law enforcement interventions, constantly changing trade routes and modus operandi.”

Conservationists say the mass kill-offs taking place across Africa may be as bad as, or worse than, those in the 1980s, when poachers killed more than half of Africa’s elephants before an international ban on the commercial ivory trade was put in place.

“We’re experiencing what is likely to be the greatest percentage loss of elephants in history,” said Richard G. Ruggiero, an official with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Some experts say the survival of the species is at stake, especially when many members of the African security services entrusted with protecting the animals are currently killing them.

“The huge populations in West Africa have disappeared, and those in the center and east are going rapidly,” said Andrew Dobson, an ecologist at Princeton. “The question is: Do you want your children to grow up in a world without elephants?”

Read the rest of this informative & alarming post of the elephant Ivory Trade :-http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/world/africa/africas-elephants-are-being-slaughtered-in-poaching-frenzy.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

Petition to stop Ivory trade:-http://www.bloodyivory.org/petition