Video: Veterinarian Smashes Squirrels’ Heads
Veterinarian Gene F. Giggleman has been formally reprimanded and fined $2,500 by the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners based on allegations of unprofessional and/or dishonorable conduct following PETA’s investigation at U.S. Global Exotics (USGE), a massive exotic-animal dealer where Giggleman was the attending veterinarian.
Giggleman’s Cruelty
In this previously unreleased video footage, Giggleman smashes squirrels’ heads into a cinderblock and recommends that workers cut sick snakes’ heads off or “freeze ’em solid” in order to kill them.
The board found that Giggleman lost his controlled-substances log and falsely signed legally required documents attesting to the health of animals he had never examined so that they could be shipped overseas for the exotic-pet trade.
Despite the board’s findings, he is still licensed to practice veterinary medicine in Texas and has retained his job as a professor at Parker University in Dallas.
Giggleman’s Former Employer on the Lam
PETA’s undercover investigation of USGE provided evidence of the abuse of more than 27,000 animals and resulted in the seizure of the animals and the closure of the business. Facing federal charges in connection with violating a wildlife protection order called the “Lacey Act,” including smuggling, conspiracy, and aiding and abetting, former USGE owner Jasen Shaw and his wife, Vanessa, fled the country and are believed to be hiding in New Zealand. Interpol has issued a notice about Shaw and his arrest warrants.
What You Can Do
Giggleman is still under investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for his actions at USGE. Help ensure that Giggleman is held accountable for all that he did at USGE by urging Sarah R. Saldaña, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Texas, to charge Giggleman with felony and/or misdemeanor violations of the Lacey Act.
Contact Saldaña through her office’s public information officer, Kathy Colvin.
