Canada: It's Time to Crack Down on the Wildlife Trade!

For far too long, Canada and other countries have allowed the cruel and irresponsible wildlife trade to flourish.

Every year, wildlife traders capture millions of animals from their natural homes and sell these beings across the globe for the sake of entertainment, food, traditional medicine, and the exotic pet trade. These animals endure horrific suffering, with many condemned to a lifetime in tiny, unnatural enclosures, and brutal slaughter in wildlife markets.

The legal and illegal wildlife trade is not only a nightmare for animals, but it poses a huge risk to public health as well. Most infectious diseases in humans originated from animals, including SARS, HIV, Ebola, Zika, and H1N1. Experts believe that the deadly COVID-19 pandemic stemmed from an unsanitary wildlife market.

In Canada, regulations regarding the wildlife trade are severely inadequate. For example, although reptiles and rodents are known to be carriers of diseases that can infect humans, wildlife traders don't even need a permit to bring them across the border, with the exception of turtles.

We can no longer afford to ignore the cruelty and health risks caused by the wildlife trade. To prevent the next pandemic, we need a global effort to shut down this trade for good—and we need the Canadian government be a leader in this much-needed effort. Please take action today by asking the federal government to crack down on the Canadian wildlife trade!

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