Couple arrested for breeding exotic cats in Spain

Spanish authorities have arrested a pair suspected of promoting unique cats on-line, together with protected species like white tigers, pumas and clouded leopards.

Civil Guard police raided the couple’s residence on the island of Majorca after studying that they have been proudly owning and breeding uncommon feline species which they then offered on social media.

In whole, 19 felines have been discovered on the property and rescued by brokers. They included a caracal, two servals and 16 hybrid felines.

The Civil Guard say the invention was simply “the tip of the iceberg of a plot” of a world prison organisation involving breeders, transporters and vets.

“Many of the animals supplied on the market got here from international locations equivalent to Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, to be smuggled into the European Union,” the Civil Guard mentioned.

The authorities mentioned the couple’s social media was “extraordinarily lively” as folks from different international locations contacted them to buy most of these animals.

The animals have been smuggled into the EU by Poland’s border with Belarus after which distributed with false paperwork, they added.

Europe is a central hub for unique wildlife commerce and the illicit black market is on the rise, in response to the Worldwide Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

The couple additionally marketed different animals by social media together with hyenas, desert lynxes and pumas.

A clouded leopard – an animal native to the Himalayas – with a price ticket of €60,000 (£52,000; $68,000) was additionally put up on the market on-line.

This raid was a part of a wider operation which started final March. One different particular person is being investigated for promoting numerous species of unique animals on the web.

The animals have been briefly positioned on the Son Servera Safari Zoo in Majorca. They’ll later be relocated to a rescue centre close to Alicante.

The excessive demand for unique cats is fuelled by social media as a result of the felines might be seen as an indication of wealth or standing, in accordance the IFAW.

However these cats – which require numerous house – are troublesome to take care of.

“They’re very aggressive and might pose a hazard to folks or different animals” which ends up in many individuals eliminating them, the Spanish Civil Guard mentioned.