There are large differences in the way countries deal with confiscated animals. AAP experiences the consequences and therefore received a high profile visit from outgoing State Secretary Martijn van Dam and the Secretary-General of CITES.
AAP takes in many confiscated animals, for example animals that have been traded illegally. In the Netherlands the shelter is well organized and animal welfare is of paramount importance. Unfortunately, in other countries there is a great lack of quality shelter locations. Partly because of this, more animals come to AAP and the shelter fills up faster. In addition, red tape in other countries is slowing down the throughflow of animals to the rescue centers of AAP.
Room for arbitrariness AAP notes that the current international guidelines allow for arbitrariness. There is a great need for an unambiguous guideline that all countries can follow. Outgoing State Secretary Martijn van Dam (Economic Affairs) visited AAP to discuss the issue. He came together with John Scanlon, secretary general of CITES. CITES is the international agreement between governments in which agreements have been made to ensure that international trade does not threaten the survival of wild animals and plants. Scanlon: “We see that worldwide the number of seizures of animals is increasing due to better enforcement, which is a good sign, but a substantial increase in well organized sanctuaries such as AAP Foundation, is lacking. That’s a problem.”
Administrative red tape
David van Gennep, managing director of AAP: “In international collaborations we notice that there is a lot of red tape and inefficiency. This clearly leads to animal suffering. Take tiger Messalina, for example. She was confiscated from an Italian circus and was supposed to get a new home in the big cats shelter in AAP Primadomus, AAP’s Spanish branch. The paperwork for transportation to Spain took months and unfortunately Messalina died in the meantime in her temporary shelter in Italy.”
Harrowing example “Chimpanzees Bongo and Klaus are another harrowing example,” Van Gennep continued. “After being confiscated on the Spanish island of Tenerife, these two animals were taken to an ‘intermediate location’ where they would stay for a short time. This was a zoo that did not have proper facilities to house and care for chimpanzees. Twenty (!) years later the animals came to our shelter in Almere.”
Solution Van Gennep: “It is important that there is an unambiguous guideline that all countries can follow. Different standards, as is currently the case, lead to inefficient use of the already scarce shelter capacity or result in animals ending up in inadequate shelter locations.” AAP hopes that the Netherlands will take a leading role in drafting and implementing an unambiguous guideline that can be uniformly enforced. CITES has the subject high on its agenda.
