ADDRESSING ANIMAL AUCTIONS

MULTIBILLION - DOLLAR EXOTIC PET TRADE EXPOSED

Hi friends! Reef the fox here with your weekly “Reef’s Report.” This week’s report is going to be a serious one. I’m going to talk about something that isn’t talked about much — animal auctions.

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Reef The Fox

Reef is a red fox that was saved from a fur farm. He now lives in Key Largo with his human, Nicole Navarro.

They happen all over the country, even here in Florida. My mom flew to Ohio last weekend to document what goes on at the Mt. Hope Alternative Animal Sale. This particular auction happens three times a year and it is where exotic animals are sold to the highest bidder. People come from all over the country to buy animals at that auction because anyone can bid, and anyone can buy. No one has to show proof of a permit for the animals they buy. This is all legal in Ohio.

My mom went last year and the photos and videos she took were turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that prompted a series of inspections. It was discovered by PETA that the Mt. Hope auction had not been inspected in 10 years. A total of 10 whole years had gone by

Since last year, that auction has been cited numerous times and was given the opportunity to change their ways, but guess what, they haven’t. So, my mom spent March 24 taking more photos and videos and those were sent to the USDA, again. The USDA was also in attendance and taking their own photos.

Auctions like this one are just one part of the multibillion-dollar exotic pet trade. The animals sold at Mt. Hope come from private homes, fur farms, roadside zoos and breeders. My mom said the animals she saw there ranged from sloths to marmosets, foxes to kangaroos. And who knows where they will go, now that they have been sold?

It’s sad

What can we do here in the Florida Keys to help bring an end to things like this? We can use our voices to make it known that we are against animals being sold to the highest bidder with zero regard to the quality of life they will have once they are sold.

I told you all this was not going to be a fun post. But it is an important topic that needs to be talked about. These auctions are hidden in plain sight.

Anywho, that’s all for this week, until next time, Reef, over and out.