I couldn’t believe what I was reading! Sadly, knowing the author, Baye Pigors, I knew it was all true, this gut wrenching visit to a legal animal trade market.
As we all prepare for our holiday festivities may we offer a prayer, a donation, or even just some kind thoughts to those who suffer so much.
With Baye’s permission I share her heart breaking experience at the legal animal trade market.
ONE OF THE HARDEST DAYS YET!
Bali, Indonesia
We always hear of the illegal wildlife trade and how brutally cruel and horrific it is. But how often are we really exposed to it? And in this case the LEGAL trade of wild animals, glimpses here and there, severe cruelty cases opening our eyes to the possibility of what is out there happening all over the world to animals we don’t even know about.
Today I decided I wanted to see for myself what a legal animal trade market is really all about. A huge amount of mental preparation was needed for what I was about to be a part of!
Thousands and thousands of birds rammed into tiny cages, bats, reptiles, dogs, cats, owls, fish, turtles anything you can think of it was there in rooms so hot I had to walk out of on several occasions, cages so small my pinky finger wouldn’t have space to fit inside it.
Animals dying right there in front of my eyes as I was taking the photo – a bat died and fell off its perch! BUT the part that absolutely left me defeated was a room full of baby Sumatran monkeys (60+) chained up on top of cages, terrified and crying, crammed into even smaller cages skin on metal no comfort no water or food available.
I walked in and froze. A baby monkey reached out his hand I gave him mine. He held on so tight. He picked at my nail polish the same way my precious rescues back home do- he looked at me and held on- the shop owner (no English) handed me a banana for him – to which 60 tiny monkeys screamed and went hysterical at the sight of food- I have only ever see this happen with 2 orphans on arrival at Free to be Wild (FTBW) who were so hungry they went into a frenzy at the sight of food. It made me realize just how hungry they all were.
How could I leave! How could I let his hand go and never know what would happen to him other than death was inevitable- it was just about when! I got up off the floor took a deep breath in and knew at that moment my work, passion and dedication towards primate rescue is exactly where I am meant to be in life.
My heart is broken but there is nothing more motivating towards changing lives of those who have no voice than having my eyes opened to the mass cruelty that goes on just down the road from most of our lives!!!
To the monkey I couldn’t save I am sorry 😪
Thank you for your courage Baye. Thank you for sharing this with us. May we all see a way forward to make a difference, to somehow find a way to impact this horrible legal animal trade market.
My God, how awful! It astounds me, how cruel people are to animals. Around the world… seems the poorer the country the worse it is. They are living sentient beings treated like commodities. I commend you for going in to see it firsthand. This will undoubtedly make you work harder to stop it. I stand with you. Let me know how to help.