An Inside Look at the Exotic Animal Trade: Profiles by VICE

An Inside Look at the Exotic Animal Trade: Profiles by VICE
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Wildlife trafficking is estimated to be a $19 billion per year global business, surpassed only by black-market sales and trafficking of drugs, humans, and firearms.

In the United States, regulation of private ownership of exotic animals is determined by each state, allowing for loopholes and oversight. Animals are bought and traded through auctions, backyard breeders, illicit online sales and more. The industry is growing right in our backyards.

VICE travels to Ohio to rescue a cougar, then to Texas for an exotic livestock auction and undercover visit to a gaming ranch where the animals are sold and hunted for up to $15,000 a piece.

Check out the next VICE Profiles “ResERECTION: The Penis Implant” – http://www.vice.com/vice-profiles/reserection-the-penis-implant

Check Out “Slut-Shaming Preacher” – http://www.vice.com/vice-profiles/slut-shaming-preacher

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48 Comments

  1. I haven't got a problem with hungting if it's legal and all that. But I draw the line at poaching, the wildlife trade is worse than the drug trade.

  2. I swear people are such pussys so what if they want tigers as long as they care for them shit if we breed rhinos and elephants in the state they wouldnt be extinct

  3. My grandfather lived in British East Africa and his family owned a tiger, but they never saw him because they just let him run around on their farm. They found himself a cub being beaten by someone so they saved him. I don’t feel anything is wrong with it because he needed some help getting food since he was crippled.

  4. I live in Zanesville and I knew the man. He did not commit suicide he was murdered by the Zanesville Sheriff. The gun he killed his self with supposedly belong to the sheriff or the Zanesville Police Department. The sheriff went on record 2 months prior to the incident saying he would do whatever it took to put mr. Thompson out of business. 6 weeks later the sheriff sold mr. Thompson his personal firearm which was used to take his own life. Doesn't make any sense the sheriff that the gun belonged to was also the one that completed the investigation labeled it a suicide close the book on the case and there was no follow-up investigation by the FBI or ATF or anybody else. So pretty much what Zanesville Sheriff said was fact and they close the case. Put the gun mr. Thompson killed his self with belong to the Zanesville Sheriff

  5. you straight up had a pic of a ball python when talking about dangerous snakes. do some fucking research #vicenews one of the many reasons no one trust journalists anymore.

  6. Ha. They showed a ball python. “The most venomous snakes blah blah”. That’s in the top 10 pets in the USA. No venom at all lol.

  7. Going to a ranch to "hunt" exotic animals is no different than catching a tuna in a fish tank, therefore you have to be the largest chump on the planet. You deserve no respect, ever.

  8. They should have just shot that poor cougar…because she's already dead. Ferocity was part of her beauty. Then some asshole stripped her of the instincts and weapons God gave her. That's a terrified empty shell of what should have been a mother, a provider and a warrior. It's a goddamn shame.

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