Animal Protection Agency

The Animal Protection Agency (APA) and its Foundation (APAF) are focused on the trade in wild animals as pets. #AnimalWelfare

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

Huge news from the Netherlands!!
#positivelist #animalwelfare

[Eurogroup For Animals @Act4AnimalsEU]

🇳🇱 Congratulations to our member @stichting_aap: after years of advocacy, the court has confirmed the legitimacy of the Dutch Positive List, a major step forward for animal welfare & responsible pet keeping.

Now it’s time for an EU-wide Positive List!

➡️ https://t.co/wO1mgxI5Bk

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

Independent research conducted by YouGov Plc for IFAW's excellent new report, 'Behind Closed Doors' reveals that 68% of exotic pet owners support the adoption of a Positive List system. This would replace our current mish-mash of confusing laws with a scientifically-backed list of only those species capable of thriving in captivity. Now wouldn't that be a good idea?!
Read the new report from IFAW. https://t.co/Br2rU7KxfG
#wild #wildiswild #exoticpettrade #captivity #endthetrade #endtheexoticpettrade

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

Axolotl's do not make good pets - here's why ➡️
#endtheexoticpettrade #axolotl #animalprotectionagency #animalwelfare

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

#WildlifeRescue #SchipholSeizure #BirdTrafficking #WildlifeCrime #ProtectOurWildlife #ConservationMatters #AnimalRescue
https://t.co/dxVe7IbYaP

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

A wild animal is still wild, even if it's in captivity. Swipe ➡️
#wild #apa #wildiswild #exoticpettrade #captivity #endthetrade
#animalprotectionagency #endtheexoticpettrade

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

"We have joined dozens of our fellow campaign groups and experts in calling on Defra to "reset" the Animal Welfare Act for its 20th anniversary. For APA, this means challenging current interpretations of 'unnecessary suffering' that allow animals like snakes and birds to be kept in enclosures where they cannot even stretch or fly. How can it be considered 'necessary' to confine animals in these conditions in pet shops merely for profit or entertainment?"

https://t.co/lnVIVyrtXD

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

Robert Gillan's ability to run an illegal pet shop from his home for six years is a stark example of how these under-the-radar businesses can evade detection while causing immense animal suffering:
https://t.co/avObBSHLo9

[The Animal Law Foundation @AnimallawFDN]

Today, The Animal Law Foundation has written to the government alongside The League Against Cruel Sports and 60 other signatories who are calling on the government to put animals back into The Animal Welfare Act.

Weak interpretation, poor enforcement and whole categories of animals excluded from protection mean that as it reaches its 20 year anniversary, the Act’s full potential has never been realised.

Legal precedent is clear: profit and tradition cannot justify cruelty. It’s time for a reset.

#AWA20 #AnimalProtection #AnimalLaw

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

Defra’s new Animal Welfare Strategy

APA welcomes the commitment of @DefraGovUK in its Animal Welfare Strategy published today to improve the licensing regime and enforcement of animal activities. This is vitally important as exotic pet businesses continue to exploit vague "hobbyist" exemptions to trade wild animals over stalls in temporary markets - a practice known to cause significant suffering.

We are, however, concerned about the Government’s silence on snake welfare. Defra needs to listen to its own experts - namely the Animal Welfare Committee’s (AWC) expert recommendation that snakes must be able to stretch to their full body length. Snakes are the only vertebrate animals legally denied this basic need.

https://t.co/7A22MBDHBM

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

Click click gone! Frame by frame, extinction event captured by perpetrators.

There is a tragic irony in the way humans interact with the wild: hunting for beauty with cameras, then destroying it in the process. The disappearance of the Galaxy Frog in India is a direct result of human entitlement—the belief that the "right" to profit from wild animals justifies their destruction.
#ecocide #wildlifecrime #NaturePhotography

https://t.co/aMv8DCWh6Y

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

This year’s CITES conference delivered positive updates for some wildlife species, with stronger protections agreed for certain reptiles, mammals and birds deemed under ‼️severe‼️ threat by the pet trade.

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

Great work by the RSPCA in one of the biggest exotic animal cases they have investigated! Over 1,800 animals were rescued including snakes, lizards, tortoises suffering in cold, filthy and cramped conditions. Tragically nearly 400 animals were beyond saving. The unlicensed animal dealer was handed a suspended sentence and disqualified from keeping animals for 16 years.
https://t.co/NRkBpffdBL

[Animal Protection Agency @apawild]

APA has almost finished compiling evidence of illegal animal trading at the reptile market held at the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool on 10 August 2025. Even though the event was poorly attended, commercial animal sellers were out in force as usual.

https://t.co/kZjWBsBopP

[Cleveleys News @cleveleysnews]

Norbreck Castle to host event where creatures are housed in inhumane, cramped & unclean conditions.

Or as Britannia Hotels describes it -‘a luxury suite’.

https://t.co/zpCGfqLmKH