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Illinois -- Scott Smith is at it again.
On January 9th exotic animals will be exploited for a profit at Scott Smith's All Animal Expo.
“Smith has been bringing baby tigers, bears and kangaroos as publicity stunts to the All Animal Expo (AAE), formerly at DuPage County fairgrounds in Wheaton, kicked out of there, now at Kane County fairgrounds in St. Charles. He even tried to do shows in Indiana to sell more illegal animals but basically got run out of Indiana.
This expo sells a lot of ‘grey area’ animals... no permits required and conservation police won't step in. But everyone knows, just wander through the parking lot to get the illegal shit. Where do you think all the illegally owned alligators came from? Over 500 were found in Illinois over the past several decades, and they came from AAE.
You can buy a prairie dog, next to a 12' anaconda, sitting in a tote on top of kittens, on top of chickens, on top of rabbits, next to bins full of hundreds of 1" diameter slider turtles (illegal to sell any turtle or tortoise under 4”) next to bulk sales of squishy newborn sulcata tortoises, all while getting pictures while petting giraffes, penguins, holding bears, tigers and kangaroos.
The majority of the sellers at this flea market are flippers. They find sick and free animals and they quickly sell them with no medical treatment, no rehabilitation, just half dead animals.
They sell turtles and tortoises in bulk because it increases the odds that at least one might survive long enough for the vendor to change their name or disappear before angry buyers return.”
According to the USDA website, Smith does not possess a USDA license. However, in 2015 he partnered with Wisconsin’s Timbavati Wildlife Park, which does hold a USDA license, to traffic endangered tiger cubs across state lines for cub petting publicity.
At Smith’s March 2020 AAE he created VIP access passes that read, “Present this pass for access to see and interact with Grizzly Bear Cubs.” At Saturday’s expo, Smith is advertising kangaroo encounters. “Ask me about KANGAROOS,” his latest Facebook post read.