OK...I admit it. I was a huge fan of Chinatown's pet shops until about two months ago. I used to walk around them with my three year old and admire the brightly colored frogs, exotic tortoises, wild parrots, and baby yellow chicks. You know when you cross one of these shops that half of their "pets" have been rounded up illegally. I've never seen a blue poisonous jungle frog at my local Petco, which leads me to believe there is something shady going on there.
Many people describe themselves as animal lovers, but I am one of those annoying people who believe they have souls, feelings, etc. As an anthropology major I know that we evolved into omnivores so I'm not gonna feel guilty when I eat a burger. However, animal CRUELTY is something I simply cannot tolerate.
I do my best to buy cruelty free products and boycott companies notorious for their testing on animals. I don't want to wear a lipstick made of whale blubber that was then painted on the face of a chained monkey to see if the end product was safe.
I don't really consider myself to be a "tree-hugger" or a hippie. I think after I became a mother my compassion for animals and other people reached a new level. After all, whether it be a man, a baby snake or a puppy, everybody is somebody's baby.
I figured I was doing as much as I could to help out the animal world by watching what I was buying, recycling, etc. An article in National Geographic made me rethink my moderate approach towards animal rights and environmental activism. Reading about the infamous animal trafficker, Anson Wong (insert dramatic "evil is coming" music), made me wanna dress up in a black suit with knee high boots, and ski mask with a machete before lunging at the asshole. However...considering this is me we are talking about, and I am hardly threatening, I decided to look at the back of the magazine where NatGeo usually lists foundations which help the causes written about in that particular issue. There was nothing. So I was left with one option. I decided if I ever saw him I would punch him. I suggest you do the same if you ever spot him. That's his picture at the top.
Ugly little man huh?
Anyways...
Top 10 Reasons Anson Wong Is A Scary MoFo:
1. He is fully backed my the Malaysian Wildlife Department and the Penang State Government
(in other words, hes got powerful cronies)
2. According to National Geographic, he's got goons just like any other comic book super villain. A former reptile smuggler informed National Geographic that he had been threatened with a baseball bat before finally being able to meet the infamous Wong.
3. Napoleon complex! (remember, little men are angry men)
4. When he was finally arrested in Mexico in 1998, he continued to run smuggling operations from behind bars.
5. He looks like a sex offender
6. He's got guys on the inside! Wong has reportedly used corrupt fedex and customs employees in the US to transport wild animals.
7. Wong is known to put the most dangerous animal, such as a highly poisonous snake, closest to the lid of the crate. That way when a customs officer prise it open, he will get a deadly bite from a pissed off reptile.
8. The smuggling of wild animals has caused the spread of many rare human diseases such as SARS and the West Nile Virus. This man's influence doesn't just harm animals, be assured, it could screw us over too.
9. He's got ca$h and he's got charm. This is a bad combination since it has helped him bribe his way to international influence.
10. Ever see the movie Dark Knight? It is true that some men just like to watch the world burn. While Anson Wong reportedly makes 50-100 million in US dollars a year he cannot get enough. Though Wong has nothing more to gain that he could possibly use in this lifetime (or the next ten for that matter) he keeps on destroying our planet and corrupting governments simply because he can.
Top 10 Reasons He Needs To Be Stopped:
1. 80-90% of wild animals die before they reach their final destination
2. Since traffickers like Wong love rarities they will go after animals who are high up on the endangered species list. Taking just a few of these animals out of the wild and into captivity jeopardizes their existence as a species.
3. People can be stupid...shocker! Rich people seem to get a kick out of owning a chimpanzee or a leopard until it decides to bite off an important part of their bodies. Wild animals are just that...wild! And another surprise, Tiger balls aren't gonna make you a master in the bedroom. You are probably just old, and Wong is making a shit ton of money off of your insecurity and ignorance.
4. He is casting his influence out onto countries who should be protecting the wildlife which makes their country so unique. How are Malaysia's endangered species ever going escape extinction when the country's own government won't do anything to protect them?
5. Anson Wong and others like him think they are unstoppable. If he can continue exerting his power over animal trafficking while still in jail ,what can't he do? This cruel behavior should not just be seen as unacceptable, it needs to be outlawed internationally before other's catch on that the wildlife trade may be a good way to make big money.
6. The Green trend going on right now is a positive step forward but it means nothing if that is all it is...a trend. If we are proactive as an international community results will be seen, but one of our major steps needs to be showing a NO TOLERANCE policy to animal trafficking kingpins.
7. Smuggling wildlife from other countries can have an awful effect on our own Good Ol' American wildlife. Prime example, decades ago a Russian wild boar was introduced to the South by smugglers. The result is a dramatic decrease in the native southern wild boars, and an increase in the Russian ones. (Did I mention the Russian boars are super ugly and attack people randomly?) 3:)
8. The corniest reason of all, no good person likes it when others suffer for no good reason, whether they be animals or humans.
9. Animal Trafficking = Violence among people. Just like the drug and sex trades, animal trafficking increases the amount of crimes people commit against each other.
10. It's a threat to national security. The conditions in which these animals are transported are often disgusting. They are trapped in small cages and crates with other animals, many whom die along the way. This is a breeding ground for disease. It's unhealthy and could cause infectious diseases.
So...WTF do we do now?
The World Wildlife Fund offers many ways to donate as well as a whole website full of info
www.worldwildlife.org
Don't just help the cute and furry animals! I know you can't help but be swayed by those cute little bunnies and lion cubs but Wong and other traffickers have been focused on reptiles? Why? Because most people around the world do not care as much about a python being tortured as they do a seal. They make the same if not more money, and people don't bat an eye. Even if they are not always pleasing to the eye reptiles are as essential to our ecosystem as a deer or a giraffe.
www.ircf.org
Spread the word and do your research!
Hope this inspires you to do some good work today.
XO, Mimi
(by the way i am writing this late at night so if the grammar and spelling sucks i apologize) <3>
I figured I was doing as much as I could to help out the animal world by watching what I was buying, recycling, etc. An article in National Geographic made me rethink my moderate approach towards animal rights and environmental activism. Reading about the infamous animal trafficker, Anson Wong (insert dramatic "evil is coming" music), made me wanna dress up in a black suit with knee high boots, and ski mask with a machete before lunging at the asshole. However...considering this is me we are talking about, and I am hardly threatening, I decided to look at the back of the magazine where NatGeo usually lists foundations which help the causes written about in that particular issue. There was nothing. So I was left with one option. I decided if I ever saw him I would punch him. I suggest you do the same if you ever spot him. That's his picture at the top.
Ugly little man huh?
Anyways...
Top 10 Reasons Anson Wong Is A Scary MoFo:
1. He is fully backed my the Malaysian Wildlife Department and the Penang State Government
(in other words, hes got powerful cronies)
2. According to National Geographic, he's got goons just like any other comic book super villain. A former reptile smuggler informed National Geographic that he had been threatened with a baseball bat before finally being able to meet the infamous Wong.
3. Napoleon complex! (remember, little men are angry men)
4. When he was finally arrested in Mexico in 1998, he continued to run smuggling operations from behind bars.
5. He looks like a sex offender
6. He's got guys on the inside! Wong has reportedly used corrupt fedex and customs employees in the US to transport wild animals.
7. Wong is known to put the most dangerous animal, such as a highly poisonous snake, closest to the lid of the crate. That way when a customs officer prise it open, he will get a deadly bite from a pissed off reptile.
8. The smuggling of wild animals has caused the spread of many rare human diseases such as SARS and the West Nile Virus. This man's influence doesn't just harm animals, be assured, it could screw us over too.
9. He's got ca$h and he's got charm. This is a bad combination since it has helped him bribe his way to international influence.
10. Ever see the movie Dark Knight? It is true that some men just like to watch the world burn. While Anson Wong reportedly makes 50-100 million in US dollars a year he cannot get enough. Though Wong has nothing more to gain that he could possibly use in this lifetime (or the next ten for that matter) he keeps on destroying our planet and corrupting governments simply because he can.
Top 10 Reasons He Needs To Be Stopped:
1. 80-90% of wild animals die before they reach their final destination
2. Since traffickers like Wong love rarities they will go after animals who are high up on the endangered species list. Taking just a few of these animals out of the wild and into captivity jeopardizes their existence as a species.
3. People can be stupid...shocker! Rich people seem to get a kick out of owning a chimpanzee or a leopard until it decides to bite off an important part of their bodies. Wild animals are just that...wild! And another surprise, Tiger balls aren't gonna make you a master in the bedroom. You are probably just old, and Wong is making a shit ton of money off of your insecurity and ignorance.
4. He is casting his influence out onto countries who should be protecting the wildlife which makes their country so unique. How are Malaysia's endangered species ever going escape extinction when the country's own government won't do anything to protect them?
5. Anson Wong and others like him think they are unstoppable. If he can continue exerting his power over animal trafficking while still in jail ,what can't he do? This cruel behavior should not just be seen as unacceptable, it needs to be outlawed internationally before other's catch on that the wildlife trade may be a good way to make big money.
6. The Green trend going on right now is a positive step forward but it means nothing if that is all it is...a trend. If we are proactive as an international community results will be seen, but one of our major steps needs to be showing a NO TOLERANCE policy to animal trafficking kingpins.
7. Smuggling wildlife from other countries can have an awful effect on our own Good Ol' American wildlife. Prime example, decades ago a Russian wild boar was introduced to the South by smugglers. The result is a dramatic decrease in the native southern wild boars, and an increase in the Russian ones. (Did I mention the Russian boars are super ugly and attack people randomly?) 3:)
8. The corniest reason of all, no good person likes it when others suffer for no good reason, whether they be animals or humans.
9. Animal Trafficking = Violence among people. Just like the drug and sex trades, animal trafficking increases the amount of crimes people commit against each other.
10. It's a threat to national security. The conditions in which these animals are transported are often disgusting. They are trapped in small cages and crates with other animals, many whom die along the way. This is a breeding ground for disease. It's unhealthy and could cause infectious diseases.
So...WTF do we do now?
The World Wildlife Fund offers many ways to donate as well as a whole website full of info
www.worldwildlife.org
Don't just help the cute and furry animals! I know you can't help but be swayed by those cute little bunnies and lion cubs but Wong and other traffickers have been focused on reptiles? Why? Because most people around the world do not care as much about a python being tortured as they do a seal. They make the same if not more money, and people don't bat an eye. Even if they are not always pleasing to the eye reptiles are as essential to our ecosystem as a deer or a giraffe.
www.ircf.org
Spread the word and do your research!
Hope this inspires you to do some good work today.
XO, Mimi
(by the way i am writing this late at night so if the grammar and spelling sucks i apologize) <3>
Yeah, that guy definitely looks like an asshole. It never ceases to amaze me the some things humans are able to do to other living creatures and not really care. Just baffling.
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