Fugitive Wanted for Wildlife Crimes

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-05-05 04:44:00 UTC
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Back in December, nearly 27,000 animals were seized from an exotic pet dealer in the largest raid in U.S. history. Texas-based U.S. Global Exotics was shut down after the raid and its owner, Jasen B. Shaw, faced criminal charges.

What happened to all of those animals? The 20,000+ survivors were distributed among zoos and sanctuaries to ensure that they wouldn't get released in the wild or end up back in the exotic pet trade. Now the question is: What happened to Jasen B. Shaw?

Shaw is a fugitive, believed to have left the country to avoid prosecution. Federal officials issued a warrant for his arrest on February 10 for violation of the Lacey Act, one of the government's most powerful tools to fight wildlife crime. He is also being investigated for smuggling, conspiracy, and aiding and abetting. The arrest warrant had been kept confidential until now, but with Shaw on the lam, the charges have been made public.

Nicholas Chavez, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent, says investigators think Shaw fled to his native New Zealand. Shaw's attorney claims that the FWS and the U.S. Attorney's Office know perfectly well that Shaw and his wife moved back, supposedly before the criminal charges were filed.

It's unclear exactly how many charges Shaw faces, since there are state wildlife laws, local animal cruelty laws, and the Lacey Act, which can bring up to five years in prison and $500,000 in fines for each felony violation. Considering U.S. Global Exotics had nearly 27,000 animals across 500 species, Shaw could be in deep. His lawyer declined to comment on when he might return to the States.

Wildlife trafficking is an international problem that affects species on many different levels, from impacting native populations, both when animals are taken from their habitat and if they're released or escape into a new environment, to individual animals being mistreated, as they were in the U.S. Global Exotics warehouse. The tens of thousands of animals at U.S. Global Exotics had been crammed into overcrowded cages and then neglected; they were found attacking each other, wasting away and dying. Let's hope the long arm of the law reaches Jasen Shaw for what he put all of those animals through.

Photo credit: Furryscaly

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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