Three boa constrictors and a federally protected reptile have been seized from a Dubuque home where authorities found hundreds of caged snakes, rats and mice.
William Shaffer and Linda Merfeld — the home’s occupants — are being investigated by federal and state officials and have already been fined by the city for allegedly breaking a municipal ordinance that prohibits dangerous pets.
Six animals were seized for evidence as state and federal officials investigate the case.
“We are determining what charges to possibly file,” said Wayne Buchholtz, a park ranger for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Authorities searched the home on Wednesday after receiving several complaints from neighbors about large snakes.
Authorities found approximately 350 snakes and 500 feeder mice and rats in the house, according to a Dubuque police report.
Buchholtz said all the snakes were caged, stored mostly in Tupperware containers poked with holes that were scattered around the house. The mice and rats, which were being bred and raised to feed the snakes, were stored in the basement.
Buchholtz, who was asked to help identify the animals, said he’d never seen so many snakes assembled at one home.
“I’ve seen that many in pet stores that do breeding,” he said. “But that’s normally in a business environment, not in a residence.”
Officials said they confiscated three baby rough-scaled sand boa constrictors, two milk snakes and one indigo snake, which is a threatened species. Those snakes were taken to Dubuque’s National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.
The rest of the reptiles and rodents were left at the residence. Buchholtz said it is not illegal to possess that many animals.
“From the way they looked, they were all being taken care of and well fed,” he said.
Shaffer and Merfeld each face up to a $750 fine for possessing dangerous pets inside city limits, said Mary Rose Corrigan, public health specialist with the city of Dubuque. She said neighbors had complained of the snakes as early as last summer.
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