ABSTRACT
The legal and illegal trade in free-born animals is an increasing problem worldwide. It is causing the extinction of many species, destruction of entire ecosystems and unspeakable harm to each individual who is victimized. Usually, the human society is recognized as the victim of the illegal wildlife trade because local communities lose ‘resources’ when non-human animals are illegally abducted and killed and because of threats against human security when terrorist groups are involved. In this book, however, the main concern is the direct victims. My main motives for this research are the serious dangers the trade poses for species survival and the ecosystems that are home to the trafficked victims, and last but not least, the harms committed against each individual animal as s/he is turned into a commodity – dead or alive. My focus on animals does not imply that I do not find the illegal trade in endangered plant species important. To the contrary, this trade can destroy ecosystems just as effectively as removing an animal species from its ecosystem can. However, the fact that nonhuman animals, like human animals, are sentient beings (Regan 1987) who therefore suffer from being abducted from their habitats, turned into property, and trafficked and sold, just as humans would suffer under such treatment, has determined my focus. In an anthropocentric world, those who are most often applauded are those who side with human interests. Still, my hope is that this book will move readers and policy makers to think of animal trafficking as a parallel to human trafficking and appreciate the harms involved in the trade, whether legal or illegal. Although human slavery has not de facto ended with a declaration of human rights, this declaration has contributed as a support for a general legal ban of this phenomenon, thus strengthening human rights and dignity (Sollund 2013b). A prohibition against animal slavery and trafficking could do the same.
