GALLERY: Animal protesters embark on a silent protest

The Johannesburg Exotic Reptile Expo took place at the Walter Sisulu Hall at the Randburg Sports Complex on 18 and 19 April.

Ban Animal Trading South Africa held a silent protest on the corner of Republic Road and Hans Schoeman Street to make people aware of the illegal trade of exotic animals.

One of the founding members of the organisation, Smaragda Louw said, “Trading in exotic animals is illegal as these reptiles are kept in small glass boxes their entire lives. The silent protest was done without us yelling and we just stood there in silence with our boards about Ban Animal Trading.”

“There were about 40 of our members involved in the protest and this meant that we didn’t need a permit to do the protest.”

She added that their sole purpose was to raise awareness. “We were surprised as a number of people who left the expo came to talk to us. Some commented that they were saddened and disgusted as it was clearly aimed at making money.”

Louw continued and said that the type of snakes sold at the expo are all different types of morph snakes that aren’t meant to stay in captivity. “Basically, the snake collectors breed two different types of snakes to create a new type of snake that has brighter and more vivid colours. While they may be beautiful it’s immoral to do it. The breeding and selling of these delicate creatures is a very cruel form of exploitation as they have an incredibly high mortality rate.”

According to Joburg Reptile Expo organiser Steven Kruger, the silent protest didn’t interrupt or stop people from visiting the expo. “It didn’t have any impact whatsoever on the number of people who attended the expo over the weekend as they held the protest on a Sunday afternoon after the show was almost over.”

Louw said that people can like the organisations’ facebook page called, Ban Animal Trading South Africa.

Details: bananimaltrading@gmail.com