Dec 6, 2011
I was looking around the Salago shop in Totnes a couple of days ago
and discovered that they were selling real bugs - including
spiders, scorpions, beetles, butterflies and crabs - embedded in
plastic as keyrings and other trinkets.
The only marking on the packaging was a web site - http://egcuk.com - which indicates that
the bugs are farmed (and possibly also gathered from the wild) in
China (although an address in Guatemala is also
mentioned).
This seems to me to be another sad example of the trivialization of
life, which I feel must be confronted. Farming insects for food is
one thing - not that you will catch me having a cicada sandwich -
but keyrings?
The extremes of this trade are documented here - http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/live-animals-being-sold-as-keyrings-in-china.html -
live animals encapsulated in sealed containers for the amusement of
tourists!
If you see this kind of thing on sale anywhere, please talk to the
manager and let's get it stopped. A polite approach is probably the
best - put your point of view and allow them to respond. If a
number of people do this over a few days, I think they will get the
message!