Henry Trefflich

Henry Trefflich
American animal importer and dealer
Born	(1908-01-09)January 9, 1908 Hamburg, Germany
Died	July 7, 1978(1978-07-07) (aged 70) Bound Brook, New Jersey

Henry Trefflich (January 9, 1908– July 7, 1978) was an animal importer and dealer. He procured animals of many different types and sizes from Africa, Asia and South America and imported them to the United States via ship and airplane. He sold them to zoos, circuses, Hollywood studios and also to various private and government research institutions. His business was headquartered on Fulton Street in Manhattan, New York City, NY, USA, where his shop was considered a local attraction in its own right. In the early 1960s his building along with the neighboring properties were bought by the Port Authority for the construction of New York City's World Trade Center.

There are two books about him, Jungle for Sale by Edward Anthony and They Never Talk Back by Baynard Kendrick.

Henry Heribert Fredrich Trefflich was born in Hamburg, Germany, to Heinrich and Carolyn Trefflich. Heinrich was the general manager of Fockelmann's Tiergarten, a zoo in Hamburg. Henry was born in the home which the family occupied on the zoo grounds. Heinrich had been born in Grosshettstedt, Thuringia, Germany, and first became acquainted with animals by watching, tracking, catching and trapping them in the forest there as a young boy. His family moved to Hamburg later and both his parents worked as attendants on passenger ships. Heinrich completed a stint in the Kaiser's Navy and afterwards worked on a shipping line where he collected animals from various ports and brought them back to Germany as a way to make money on the side. Sometime after he became married he impressed August Fockelmann with his knowledge of animals and took the job as zoo manager so he could spend his time ashore with his family.

Henry frequently recalled that his early years in the zoo set the stage for his interest in animals his entire life. He had more or less free run of the zoo and at times his youthful mischief ended in mishaps with an annoyed animal. He learned much of animals at this early age from his father, with whom he also accompanied on an occasional African safari to procure new animals.

Heinrich later returned to the shipping line and again continued his side business collecting and dealing in animals. He set up shop in India and decided to remain ashore there to see to his fledgling business, particularly in supplying dogs to India's elite courts. The British authorities approached him with a request to train police dogs, which he began to do with great success. This continued until the outbreak World War I when they asked him to develop a training program for combat roles. Although Heinrich himself was not fond of the Kaiser's role in the war, as a German he decided that he would not train British dogs which could possibly be used against his own people. He told the British he was willing to train dogs for Red Cross work, but not for combat. This offer was refused, and he was placed in an internment camp in India where he remained for the duration of the war.