Mark Lazarowicz MP Backs Report Exposing Cruel Wildlife Cybercrime
Mark Lazarowicz MP is backing a hard-hitting report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) that sets out – in often shocking detail -the scale of wildlife trade over the internet.
The report entitled ‘Wanted – Dead or Alive’ shows how thousands of endangered species are bought and sold on the Internet, many advertised without any form of supporting documentation.
IFAW found the legality of almost 13 per cent of the advertisements investigated warranted turning them over to law enforcers for further examination. However this may only be the tip of the iceberg as investigators focused on open-source websites.
The Edinburgh North and Leith MP is a member of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) which has published a series of reports on wildlife crime.
Mark Lazarowicz said: “I welcome this report for shining a light on the murky sale of protected species and parts of them like ivory – it’s big business built on cruelty to magnificent but rare animals like tigers, bears and orangutans.
“When the EAC reported in 2012 we called for the Government to give the National Wildlife Crime Unit the funding it needs to be effective and we highlighted how the lack of certainty over its funding is making it especially difficult to attract staff and hampering its work on wildlife crime.
“I want to see the UK and Scottish Governments – which has responsibility for tackling this in Scotland – working closely together to shut down these practices – it’s a crime that crosses borders and wildlife that we treasure should not be traded online like any other commodity.”
The report calls for:
• A criminal offence created for those advertising a protected animal, or its parts
• Warnings on marketplaces online to make people searching for protected species aware that they might be breaking the law so they cannot plead ignorance
• Secure funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit and a dedicated post for wildlife cybercrime.
Mr Lazarowicz has written to DEFRA calling for the Government to act.
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