Kiwi link to record exotic animal seizure

A screenshot from the now-defunct US Global Exotics website.

AP

Lizards are removed from US Global Exotics' premises.

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A New Zealand man, Jasen Shaw, has been implicated in the largest seizures of exotic animals in United States history.

The New Zealander was keeping reptiles, rodents and mammals in a warehouse in Arlington, Texas and trading them around the world, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

Shaw and his wife Vanessa are co-owners of US Global Exotics, a multi-million dollar a year business that sells trades live animals as a pet wholesaler.

But animal welfare workers this week removed 26,400 exotic animals from their premises.

Hundreds of carcasses were found, and the smell of death inside the one-story building was overwhelming, workers said.

"Such a number of dead or dying animals I've never seen before," said Texas SPCA President James Bias, who has worked for animal welfare agencies in North Texas for years.

Because of overcrowding and a lack of food, some of the animals had started eating one another. Inside cardboard boxes, the workers found hundreds of dead turtles and lizards that had been packed more than a week earlier, according to their shipping labels.

"One of the most heartbreaking things I saw was hundreds of deceased iguanas. I stopped counting at 200," Maura Davies, spokeswoman for the SPCA told the newspaper. "There were dozens more."

Among the animals that were still alive were turtles and lizards, a large variety of snakes, spiders and crabs, as well as kinkajous, sugar gliders, sloths, hedgehogs and prairie dogs, officials said. The animals, some quite valuable, were taken to undisclosed locations for care.

The New Zealander sold animals online, primarily to pet shops, animal officials said.

"This wasn't a pet shop. This was a multimillion-dollar business," Arlington Animal Services manager Jay Sabatucci told the newspaper .

A court hearing will be scheduled within 10 days to determine who gets custody of the animals, Mr Sabatucci said.

Mr Bias estimated that it would cost US$100,000 (NZ$140,447) for the agencies to provide temporary care for the animals.

The tip-off for the raid came from a veterinary technician working undercover for animal rights activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The private business was incorporated in 2003 and has customers in more than 20 countries, its now-defunct website said. Shaw had been trading in exotic animals for more than 11 years, the site said.

An affidavit filed at the local court said the undercover technician told officials he documented the deaths of 85 reptiles and said he saw another log that recorded the deaths of 218 yellow-belly turtles the same day.

Some of the animals, such as hamsters and prairie dogs, had started eating one another because of overcrowding and lack of food. Others died from disease or, in the case of some ball pythons, were crushed by the weight of other pythons in their holding trough.

About 5000 aquatic turtles were confined in cardboard boxes for two weeks from November 27 without food or water.

- NZPA