Shoppy Shoppy! Looking for Something WILD??
Just read a fantastic article in the Wall Street Journal advertising the mother [nature] of all sales!
For all you trade peeps that want to know where your confiscated imports go when they can’t clear Fish & Wildlife prepare to be amazed! There is a 22k square foot warehouse in Denver that houses all the seized goods that were found to violate U.S. Fish & Wildlife regulations or that couldn’t be cleared due to document compliance issues. This place is run by a staff of only four humans and apparently business is…good?
Who but us would even think of this stuff…hunting trophies infested with foreign bugs and pests…fancy designer footwear made of cobra, python, ostrich, exotic lizard or even kangaroo (bet all those SATC types will be chomping at the bit like a Jimmy Choo sample sale in Soho)…weasle fur coats…toad-skin handbags…or greatest curiosity was mention of the beribboned walrus weiner – now…what on earth???
You might wonder what Fish & Wildlife does with all the cash they make from selling such treasures? Well, they “use the money to preach conservation.” The article states that the last time such a sale was held was in 1999 (via live auction) $500,000 was raised in the name of saving the animals. Oh, the irony.
If you’re looking to score some crazy endangered piece then think again. It IS illegal for the government to sell anything that even smacks of endangered species so all the REALLY bad stuff will be withheld from sale. Its for the best though. Some of this stuff sounds terribly degrading and such a waste of resources. Sad, really.
By now you are itching to know how you can find some pickled snake wine just in time for Father’s Day? The sale is happening as I key this post. This is an online auction situation and Fish & Wildlife posts new batches of items each week. http://www.lonestaronline.com/listings/categories/index.cfm?category=949023805
The WSJ article and photos from the wildlife respository can be found at WSJ.com/US.
Happy shopping,
Tradeguru
