Nowadays, more and more people are starting to keep pets, but some people prefer to break through the conventional boundaries and raise some strange animals as pets, raising grasshoppers, turtles, lizards, spiders, snakes, etc., and breeding is becoming more and more rare, as everyone knows, such behavior is likely to constitute a crime. Recently, a man was sentenced by a people's court for purchasing a Sulcata tortoise as a pet, suspected of endangering precious and endangered wild animals.
Buying and selling tortoises was sentenced
In April 2018, Bai purchased two Sulcata tortoises for 1950 yuan and raised them at home. In February 2021, the Donghuamen police station received a clue from a superior to conduct a co-investigation of two clues involving the illegal acquisition and sale of rare and endangered wild animals in Henan, and in the process of carrying out clue verification, it was found that Bai had raised Sulcata tortoises.
On May 22, 2021, Bai was summoned to the public security organ for review. After identification, two Sulcata tortoises are national second-level protected wild animals. The Dongcheng District People's Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality charged defendant Bai mou with the crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals, and filed a public prosecution with the Dongcheng court. The court held that Bai's illegal acquisition of rare and endangered wild animals under key national protection had obstructed the order of social management and constituted the crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals, and should be punished according to law. He was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment, suspended for one year, and fined two thousand yuan.
The Criminal Code is committed against rare and endangered wild animals
Whoever, in accordance with the provisions of Article 341 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, illegally hunts or kills rare or endangered wild animals under key national protection, or illegally acquires, transports or sells rare or endangered wild animals under key national protection and their products, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also be fined; If the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined; If the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years and shall also be fined or have his property confiscated.
At the same time, the Guiding Opinions on Punishing the Crime of Illegal Wildlife Trade in Accordance with the Law, jointly formulated by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice, stipulate that if it is known or should have known that it is a rare or endangered wildlife under key national protection and its products are illegally purchased for food or other purposes, in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of criminal law article 341, it shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegally purchasing rare and endangered wild animals and precious or endangered wildlife products.
Tortoises are nationally protected animals
Some owners who buy turtles as pets find it cool to have personalized pets. For example, wild endangered species such as spoke tortoises, Sulcata tortoises, Hermann tortoises, leopard tortoises smuggled from Madagascar and other places have become popular in turtle pens because of their beautiful appearance. However, tortoises are protected species listed in the appendix of the Convention on the Protection of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and China has been approved as a national first- and second-level protected wild animal in accordance with the law.
The breeding of tortoises requires the relevant documents, it is a special animal, there are requirements for breeding sites, feed sources, breeding technology, and it is subject to the supervision of the forestry department. At present, in the online 'black market' of tortoise trading, sellers are still unscrupulously publishing information such as tortoise types, prices, photos and other information in advertisements, and many people are still stealing tortoises, but they do not know that this behavior has been suspected of violating the law.
Wen Law Says:
Precious and endangered wild animals are the country's precious natural resources, and people who love to keep pets must pay attention to the breeds of animals when buying and selling pets. Precious and endangered wild animals are "forbidden areas" for pet breeding, and even if the precious and endangered wild animals are loved and protected in the breeding process, they do not cause any harm, but those involved in the sale are themselves illegal. Pet lovers should raise awareness of the protection of rare and endangered wild animals and consciously resist illegal trade.
Author: Wen Feifei, lawyer
Editor: Jin Yi, lawyer