Position Statements

Capture and Sourcing of Wild Animals for the Pet Trade

August 13, 2024

Background

1. Millions of vertebrates and invertebrates are captured and traded annually, and the vast majority of this trafficking is unregulated and/or illegal. The capture of wild animals for the pet trade is a global One Health and One Welfare issue that impacts the health and welfare of animals, the ecosystem, and poses a significant risk to human health.
2. The sourcing and marketing of wild animals as pets often leads to animal welfare risks associated with capture, handling, transport, and subsequent captivity. Large proportions (up to 80%) of wild animals captured for the pet trade are injured or die during capture and transportation and others never acclimate to a captive environment (1-13).
   1. Capture poses a risk of injury to both the animals and humans involved.
   2. The handling, housing, and transport conditions of captured wild animals often present welfare and ethical concerns.
   3. Wild animals have evolved to thrive in their natural environment. Those captured are often unable to acclimate to captivity in a human home environment and are most often unsuitable as pets.
   4. Information and training on the species-specific requirements (e.g. specialized handling, optimal care, physiological and behavioural needs, social structures, and nutrition) of many wild animal species is not readily available. This lack of information leads to suboptimal care and premature death or eventual abandonment or relinquishment of many wild species in unaccredited captive settings.
3. Exploitation of wildlife via the pet trade leads to significant impacts on biodiversity, damage and destruction of habitats and threatens local as well as global communities who directly or indirectly benefit from ecosystem health (1-7).
   1. Capture and removal of these animals from their natural environments for the pet trade often occurs without the requisite knowledge of the species’ critical population thresholds or the potential risks to the ecosystems from which they are removed.
   2. Illegal importations with the accidental or intentional release of non-native wildlife threatens ecosystems, native wildlife species, and people via the introduction of invasive species, foreign animal diseases, and zoonotic diseases.
   3. The intentional or accidental release of non-native animals can result in catastrophic impacts to local fauna. For example, the red eared slider, an invasive turtle species in Canada and other parts of the world, can outcompete and introduce disease to local turtle species. Another prominent example is the Burmese python is now distributed across more than a thousand square miles of southern Florida, including all of Everglades National Park and areas to the north such as Big Cypress National Preserve. This continues to have a massive impact on the local mammal and alligator population.
4. Capture of marine species may involve extensive habitat destruction and indiscriminate injury or death of many non-target species as well as target species (e.g., marine tropical fish and corals) (14-17).
   1. Cyanide fishing is recognized as a major factor leading to the destruction of coral reefs. This method involves releasing concentrated sodium cyanide in a focal area to stun fish making it easier to collect them. The high concentration and uncontrolled application may kill both target and non-target fish and corals.
   2. Residual cyanide may contribute to high rates of delayed mortality in marine fish with increased suffering and reduced welfare.
5. Unregulated global trade in wildlife may contribute to the introduction of non-native invasive species and foreign animal diseases, with potentially significant economic and public health impacts (1,3,13, 18-21).
   1. Significant numbers of these species are considered to be at risk under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (22). While CITES provides some regulatory protections, not all endangered species are included.
   2. Stronger regulatory controls and disincentives to marketing and private ownership are needed. Federal regulations on the importation of non-indigenous animals need to be developed, reviewed, implemented, and fully enforced, with harmonization of provincial regulations on acceptable species to be kept as pets.
   3. The process of importation and distribution often involves keeping animals at high density and in unnatural groupings of species, providing opportunities for cross-species transmission and amplification of known and unknown pathogens, which can be zoonotic. An example is the transmission of monkeypox from imported Gambian rodents to prairie dogs and the subsequent zoonotic disease outbreak in North America (23). However, at this time, minimal disease surveillance is conducted for legally imported non-agricultural animals.
6. The CVMA supports global efforts to combat illegal trade of wildlife through a multi-pronged approach consisting of:

1. 1. Local, national, and international education and public awareness campaigns for consumers and brokers;
   2. Coordinated and stronger international agreements;
   3. Effective harmonization and enforcement of national legislation, including the importation of non-indigenous species for the pet trade;
   4. Effective national and international conservation activities that manage and prevent impacts on biodiversity and protect Canadian wildlife species; and
   5. The development of alternative and sustainable income streams for source communities.
   6. The continued international development, cataloging, and use of DNA forensic tools, such as DNA markers, barcoding, and molecular technologies, to combat illegal wildlife trade (24).

References

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