Italy: Illegal animal trade worth 3 bln
http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2009-06-22_122365387.html
(ANSA) - Rome, June 22 - The illegal exploitation of domestic animals, livestock, and wildlife continues to provide organized crime gangs in Italy with huge sums of money each year, according to the latest report by animal rights association, LAV.
The group’s annual ‘Zoomafia’ report, which analyses illegal money-spinners involving animals, found that the business generated around three billion euros in 2008.
”The numerous police investigations into crimes linked to the criminal exploitation of animals show that these (organised crime) groups are particularly active and dynamic economically… and that they are spread throughout the country with links abroad,” said the report’s author, Ciro Troiano.
”This is a real industry of exploitation and violence,” he added.
Illegal horse racing, which takes place on racecourses after hours or on improvised tracks through city streets, remained the most profitable enterprise, pulling in around one billion euros, according to the report. The clandestine sport attracts hundreds of gamblers across southern Italy. Stolen horses are often used and many are fed powdered Viagra or other stimulants to improve their performance.
In 2008 police blocked 16 illegal races and reported 296 people, LAV said.
They also confiscated 147 horses, 23 stables and riding school as well as over 1,000 doses of forbidden performance-enhancing substances.
The rigging of legal races also continues to be a serious problem, with Mafia-style gangs switching horses, bribing jockeys, disguising thoroughbreds as mixed breeds, and injecting animals with amphetamines.
Even if tricks such as doping are uncovered afterwards, payouts on bets have already been made and they are usually unretrievable. Legal betting businesses believe they lose millions of euros as a result.
The report highlighted puppy trafficking from Eastern Europe as another major money-spinner.
Around 500,000 puppies are imported illegally into Italy each year after being bought in Eastern Europe for around 60 euros each.
Pedigree puppies can fetch up to 20 times as much on the Italian market, where traders fake documentation claiming the dogs were born in Italy, LAV said.
Pets are smuggled over the border in cramped conditions in the backs of lorries, and one in four puppies does not survive the trip.
Trafficking of exotic animal species such as parrots, chameleons and tortoises as well as ivory, caviar, embalmed crocodiles and Chinese medicine containing ingredients from protected species is meanwhile worth around 500 million euros annually, LAV said.
The report also highlighted cattle rustling and other livestock theft, with 100,000 animals stolen each year for a value equivalent to 206 million euros. Other clandestine enterprises included illegal fishing, the falsification of health certificates and the illegal meat trade, according to the report.
It also signalled a ”disturbing” resurgence of dog fighting, with three people arrested for organising fights and six dogs seized.
