Wang Mou is kind in nature, honest, has a stable job, is a person who loves life, and has no criminal record. In 2015, he accidentally saw the video of netizens raising parrots on the Internet, he loved small animals, he was deeply attracted by the beautiful appearance of parrots, and then he learned that parrots are docile, like to get along with humans, and interact with their owners through breeding, and they are more fond of them, and they have the idea of breeding. In May 2015, Wang learned on the Internet about a "XXX Parrot Bird Industry Business Department" (pseudonym) platform (after investigation, the platform has been changed to a limited liability company in 2018, holding the "National Key Protected Wild Animal Domestication and Breeding License"), which is selling his favorite African grey parrots. After Wang contacted the other party to determine the selected parrot breed, the platform provided a "Lease Foster Care Agreement" for Wang to sign and sell the animal in the name of leasing and foster care. After Wang paid the money, the other party delivered two African grey parrots to Wang. In the same year, Wang purchased two green-cheeked cone-tailed parrots and two sun cone-tailed parrots in a similar way on several other similar platforms.
After getting the parrot, Wang mou from scratch seriously learned the knowledge of raising parrots, in the process of breeding, it is more meticulous, love and care for parrots, sometimes in the middle of the night will get up to take care of, he not only buy feed, fruit, walnuts and other feeding, but also buy bird medicine to eat when the parrots are sick, in the words of Wang Mou: "I am reluctant to eat to save to buy for birds to eat." After a period of time together, several parrots are very close to him, and when he comes home from work, he will take the initiative to fly to his hands to interact, and some will learn to talk. This breeding is for a few years, and a very friendly and intimate relationship has been established between the parrot and the owner.
It is also because of Wang's careful breeding, two sun cone-tailed parrots grew very healthy, and in early 2018, two cute chicks were born, which made Wang happy. However, as the chicks grow up day by day, the family's breeding conditions gradually can not meet their living needs, coupled with the sun cone-tailed parrot has a characteristic of a particularly large voice, the next four together is noisy every day, not only affecting the life of Wang's family, but also affecting the neighbors, by neighbors in the community many complaints. Therefore, Wang Mou had the idea of finding someone else to adopt a small parrot. At the end of 2018, Wang finally found people willing to adopt in the "Bird Lovers WeChat Exchange Group", the two sides began to discuss, Wang stressed many times during this period: if you determine adoption, you can only raise them yourself, you must not sell, you must take care of them seriously, you must not abuse them... In the end, the two sides reached an agreement, and Wang sold two small solar cone-tailed parrots to each other.
Unexpectedly, this buyer was a professional dealer, and soon after the two little parrots arrived, they found a new buyer and sold them at a higher price. In a series of cases of illegal acquisition and sale of wild animals uncovered by the police, the professional traffickers were arrested, and the wild animals involved in them, in addition to parrots, there were also tortoises and so on. In the process of investigation, the professional trafficker confessed that the parrot involved in the case was purchased from Wang, and the police found Wang mou by following the vine, which led to the case.
After Wang Mou arrived at the case, all six parrots he was still raising were confiscated. The parrots involved in the case were forensically identified as species in Appendix I and Appendix II of CITES of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and were all rare animals. At the same time, the parrot family (all species) is also included in the list of wild animals under key protection at the national level II. in China, and is included in the Appendix to the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Criminal Cases of Destroying Wildlife Resources (2000): Illegal hunting, killing, acquiring, transporting and selling six parrots (all species), that is, up to the "serious circumstances" level listed in Article 341 [Crimes of Endangering Rare and Endangered Wild Animals] of the Criminal Law, can be sentenced to five to ten years of fixed-term imprisonment.
Wang Mou realized that he had already encountered the red line of the law.
Because the economic situation did not allow it, Wang did not have the ability to entrust a lawyer to fight a lawsuit for himself. Under the assignment of the Legal Aid Center of the Panlong District Bureau of Justice, lawyer Shen Chen provided legal aid to Wang.
Guest: Shen Chen
Lawyer of Yunnan Dengwen Law Firm
Wang's legal aid lawyer
Fang Hong: Wang Likes Parrots and Goes to Raise Them, Why Is He Suspected of Committing a Crime?
Lawyer Shen Chen: Wang Mou was suspected of buying six parrots and selling two parrots, and after professional identification, their species were African grey parrot, green-cheeked cone-tailed parrot, and sun cone-tailed parrot, which belonged to the rare animal species recorded in the appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. At the same time, the parrot family (all species) is also included in the list of wild animals under key protection at the national level II in China, and is included in the appendix to the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Criminal Cases of Destroying Wildlife Resources (2000).
Therefore, Wang's act of buying and selling parrots has violated the provisions of Article 341 of China's Criminal Law, and is suspected of "serious circumstances" listed in the "crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals" and can be sentenced to five to ten years of fixed-term imprisonment.
Fang Hong: What you did for Wang Mou was a light defense, what do you think is the reason for his light sentence?
Lawyer Shen Chen: After intervening in the case, I think that through the fixation of the evidence in the case, the fact that Wang Mou acquired six parrots and sold two parrots was accurate and indeed constituted a crime. I found out that he had the following minor plots:
First of all, the parrots purchased in the case came from parrot farms, had birth certificates (pedigree certificates), were artificially bred, and the two small parrots sold were raised and bred by Wang Mou himself, and they were not wildly caught;
Secondly, the population of the parrot species involved in the case was in good condition, the endangerment situation was not severe, and the defendant's act of buying and selling 6 breeding and breeding 2 parrots did not cause obvious harm to the wild animals of this type;
Finally, the defendant's purpose of purchasing parrots was not to eat, resell for profit, or kill to obtain animal products, etc., but to be used as pets, carefully raised, and did not harm the animals.
Referring to Article 9 of the Guiding Opinions on Lawfully Punishing the Crime of Illegal Wildlife Trade jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice in 2020, article 9 of the Guiding Opinions on Lawfully Punishing The Crime of Illegal Wildlife Trade proposes: "When determining whether a crime constitutes a crime and a discretionary punishment, consideration shall be given to whether the animals involved in the case are artificially bred, the endangered degree of species, the survival status in the wild, the circumstances of artificial breeding, as well as the means of conduct and the degree of damage to wildlife resources, comprehensively assessing the harm to society, and ensuring that the criminal responsibility and punishment are compatible." Where the relevant standards for conviction and sentencing are clearly inappropriate, appropriate handling may be made in accordance with law on the basis of the facts, circumstances, and degree of social harm of the case. ”
That is to say, on several key points mentioned in the Guiding Opinions, the defendant's behavior in this case is in line with the characteristics of mild harm, and with the circumstances of voluntary surrender, first-time offender, and admission of guilt and acceptance of punishment, the punishment can be mitigated or even mitigated. That's why I defended him for his misdemeanor.
Fang Hong: In many parrot cases, the criminal suspects who are caught are people who love parrots like Wang Mou and can take good care of them and promote their reproduction.
Lawyer Shen Chen: For the legal provisions, we must penetrate into its legislative background to think about it to better understand it, I believe everyone has heard a famous saying called "when the avalanche comes, no snowflake is innocent." "How to understand it? If there are many people like Wang Mou, the so-called people who love wild animals, they are willing to spend money to buy, and then carefully take care of and carefully raise these small animals, then there must be many people in front of them to hunt and harm animals for profit.
In this way, when we think that we love animals and want to get them, and love animals in the wrong way, we will become the "innocent" snowflakes at the time of the avalanche.
Therefore, our legislation denies this erroneous way of loving animals, that wild animals originally belong to nature, to forests, to the sea, not to our home bird cages, not to our fish tanks. The existence of the wrong way of loving animals will become the motivation of those criminals behind them to hunt animals and harm animals. So there is nothing wrong with the law itself.
At the law enforcement level, the punishment of this snowflake by the criminal law has maintained the humility that the criminal law should have, just like the "Guiding Opinions" of the two supremes mentioned earlier, which has fully considered the situation that there is no malice toward animals such as Wang Mou, but the behavior touches the legal red line, and proposes to comprehensively measure social harm in a unified manner, rather than one size fits all. This is also why Wang's case, according to the number, exceeded six parrots, which belonged to the serious circumstances and the sentence was five years, but it was obvious that the practice was not handled according to this standard mechanically.
Therefore, in my opinion, in this case, there is no problem with the provision and enforcement of the law.
Fang Hong: Wang Mou is still worried about the safety and life of parrots in the detention center, because the media has exposed that the owners of parrots have been arrested, and the whereabouts of these parrots are worrying. As the defense lawyer for the Biodiversity Conference is being held in Kunming, what is your view on bioconservation?
Lawyer Shen Chen: Recently, COP15 was held in Yunnan, and as a small comrade in Yunnan, I feel very happy. As we all know, our wildlife resources in Yunnan are very rich and are known as the "Wildlife Kingdom". However, the abundance of wildlife resources has also brought about the proliferation of crimes that endanger wildlife. According to the information released by the public security organs of Yunnan Province in August 2021: "Yunnan Province's achievements in cracking down on illegal crimes that destroy wildlife resources have been ranked first in the country in the past two years." It was a very awkward first. That is to say, while we have achieved gratifying results in biodiversity conservation, the illegal and criminal activities of criminals to destroy natural resources and harm wild animals have always existed.
After this case, I have a deeper understanding of the issue of wildlife protection, and I take this opportunity to express a simple view: I think that the way humans really love animals is not to possess them, not to catch them in zoos or aquariums, to put them in their own elaborate cages, so that they can satisfy people's curiosity, for people to watch, to have fun, the right way for humans to love animals is actually very simple - that is, not to disturb them.
Do not disturb their most original life in nature, do not disturb their free flight in the sky, do not disturb them running freely on the grassland, do not disturb them to travel happily in the forest, do not disturb them to swim freely in the sea... I think this is the true connotation of the harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
So what I want to say is that, on the one hand, for people who love animals, we must improve our awareness, enhance our legal awareness, and avoid using the wrong way of loving animals to lead to touching the legal red line; on the other hand, for those who harm animals and destroy natural environmental resources for selfish purposes and for illegal benefits, they will definitely be punished by the law.
Fang Hong: Although the case has not yet been pronounced, it has led us to think about protecting animals and loving nature, how should human beings treat animals to love them, and really benefit their survival and reproduction?
Thank you to the Panlong District Legal Aid Center of Kunming City for its support of this program.