Animal Underworld : Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species

A shocking investigative exposé documents the big business of exotic animal trafficking--and implicates leading zoos, wildlife parks, and dealers nationwide.;Prologue; introduction; 1 here today . . .; 2 blind faith; 3 disappearing acts; 4 paper trails; 5 to market; 6 unholy alliances; 7 an exaltation of lies; 8 unfair game; 9 time bombs; 10 going, going, gone; 11 end of the line; 12 the captive kingdom; epilogue; source notes and acknowledgments; about the center for public integrity; index.

a Shocking Investigative Exposé Documents The Big Business Of Exotic Animal Trafficking—and Implicates Leading Zoos, Wildlife Parks, And Dealers Nationwide

publishers Weekly

in A Shocking And Heartbreaking Expos , Green Examines The Fate Of Unwanted Animals Cast Off By U.s. Zoos And Theme Parks. Many Of The Nation's Leading Zoos, He Reports, Sell Their Unwanted Animals--whether Surplus, Aging And Decrepit, Or Babies Bred For Sale--to Supposedly Reputable Dealers Who, In Turn, Dump The Animals Onto Roadside Attractions, Unaccredited Petting Zoos, Private Hunting Parks And Bogus Sanctuaries That Will Hand Over Endangered Species To Anyone For A Buck. Using Easily Doctored Documents, The Animals Are Laundered Into Obscurity, Shunted From Opportunistic Breeders To Wretched Menageries, Auctioneers, Backyard Hobbyists And Even University Research Centers. Many Of These Animals, According To Green, Suffer Cruel Abuse, Mistreatment Or Fatal Neglect; Some End Up As Exotic Meat On The Grocery Shelf. He Also Argues That Zoos Ignore Their Own Edict By Permitting Animals To Migrate Almost Uncontrollably Into The Hands Of Unaccredited Institutions. Working With The Center For Public Integrity, A Washington, D.c.-based Nonprofit Organization, Green Crisscrossed The Country, Combing Thousands Of Health Certificates And Interviewing Hundreds Of People. He Tracked Smugglers And Poachers Who Traffic In Rare Species Disappearing From Their Native Habitats, Which Are Then Sold To Exotic Pet Owners. He Takes Aim Particularly At The Thousands Of Americans Who Keep Dangerous Pets Like Tigers Or Cougars, Inviting Human Tragedies. A Major Feat Of Investigative Reporting, This Book Spells Out Sensible Strategies To Clean Up This Unholy Mess, Including A Proposal That Zoos Should Provide Cradle-to-grave Care To Their Denizens. Green's Important, Eye-opening Report Could Spark A National Debate. Photos. (oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

A vast and previously undisclosed underground economy exists in the United States. The products bought and sold: animals. In Animal Underworld, veteran investigative journalist Alan Green exposes the sleazy, sometimes illegal web of those who trade in rare and exotic creatures. Green and The Center for Public Integrity reveal which American zoos and amusement parks dump their "surplus" animals on the middlemen adept at secretly redirecting them into the private pet trade. We're taken to exotic-animal auctions, where the anonymous high bidders are often notorious dealers, hunting-ranch proprietors, and profit-minded charlatans masquerading as conservationists. We visit some of the nation's most prestigious universities and research laboratories, whose diseased monkeys are "laundered" through this same network of breeders and dealers until they finally reach the homes of unsuspecting pet owners. And we meet the men and women who make their living by skirting through loopholes in the law, or by ignoring the law altogether. For anyone who cares about animals; for pet owners, zoo-goers, wildlife conservationists, and animal welfare advocates, Animal Underworld is gripping, shocking reading. "In Animal Underworld, Alan Green and The Center for Public Integrity offer the definitive expose of the sleazy, sometimes illegal trade in exotic - even endangered - species. The book takes us to exotic-animal auctions, where the anonymous high bidders are often notorious dealers, hunting-ranch proprietors, and profit-minded charlatans masquerading as conservationists. We peer inside research laboratories operated by some of the nation's most prestigious universities, which launder diseased monkeys though the same network of breeders and dealers until they finally reach the homes of unsuspecting pet owners. In case after case, Animal Underworld documents exactly what happens after zoos and theme parks unload their "surplus" animals on secretive middlemen who redirect them into the private pet trade. And the book shines an unwanted spotlight on those who profit by exploiting loopholes in the law or by ignoring the law altogether."--Jacket This investigation into an underground economy names the American zoos and theme parks that dump unwanted animals into the exotic pet trade, and the research institutes that "launder" diseased monkeys through breeders and traders until they reach the homes of unsuspecting pet owners. A shocking investigative expose documents the big business of exotic animal trafficking--and implicates leading zoos, wildlife parks, and dealers nationwide