Snakes alive! Owners turn in pythons, tortoises and albino skunk

TAMPA — When Mark Cossey's pet tortoises hatched, he could fit them in his palm. He named them Spot and Dot.

But thanks to hibiscus flowers and large bags of tortoise feed, Spot takes up more space. The African sulcata tortoise now pushes 150 pounds.

On Saturday, Cossey of St. Petersburg gently rubbed Spot's neck and whispered, "They can feed you" before he left the two tortoises with wildlife officials at the non-native pet amnesty day event in Tampa.

He said he couldn't afford to feed his tortoises anymore, so he dropped them off at the event, held in a grassy lot near Busch Gardens.

On Saturday, wildlife officials accepted about 100 exotic animals — from a 13-foot Burmese python to an albino skunk. The event was hosted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Busch Gardens and Plant City.

The workers accepted any kind of exotic animal without question, even if its owner was unlicensed.

"It's truly an amnesty," said Rob Yordi, the Busch Entertainment Corp.'s curator.

He said the event was held to encourage pet owners not to release invasive species into the wild. Florida already has problems with pythons, iguanas and parrots, which thrive in tropical regions and often overtake native wildlife.

Shortly after the event kicked off, Tampa resident Kelley Campbell had two strong workers carry three sagging pillowcases to the check-in table. She warned them that two contained docile, albino Burmese pythons. The other? "She's nasty," Campbell warned.

A crowd gathered, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the giant snakes as officials removed them one by one. When they took out the aggressive 13-foot Burmese python, she barred her fangs.

"She's wild" Campbell said. "She wants to bite."

The snakes aren't hers, she said. They briefly belonged to a friend who keeps smaller breeds of snakes. He took in the three pythons when someone else could no longer take care of them.

Campbell was glad to see them go.

"I'm a big advocate for people not owning snakes like this," she said.

In addition to the reptiles, exotic birds were also dropped off, including large Amazon parrots and cockatoos. The Florida Parrot Rescue group set up a booth at the event to inform people about proper bird care.

"It's a commitment," said the group's vice president, Amanda Terry. Some birds live to be 80 years old, she said.

The group's founder, Jennifer Underwood of Temple Terrace, said that people often see the beautiful, colorful birds in pet stores and decide they want one. But owning a cockatoo "is like having a 2-year-old for 50 years," she said. They often scream a lot.

"Do your research first," Terry advised.

Jessica Vander Velde can be reached at jvandervelde@sptimes.com or (813) 661-2443.



Here is the link.


http://www.tampabay.com/news/environ...cle1050277.ece

Where are these animals going? They were probably all killed. Who got amnesty?????????? Bet your ass it wasn't then animals surrendered.

Mark, I hope your wrong, but you are probably right. I'm a bit curious about what happended with the animals if anyone knows for sure.

I contacted the Jessica via e-mail and asked what happened to the animals. She said,

"Some of the animals were adopted out by pre-qualified people, and the rest were sent to various sanctuaries. None were euthanized."

I always wonder who actually ends up with the animals, but at least the response said they were not killed.

SO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS, PEOPLE GAVE UP THEIR ANIMALS IN FLORIDA, THEY WERE TAKEN IN, AND ADOPTED TO OTHER PEOPLE IN FLORIDA? DOESNT SOUND VERY PRODUCTIVE TO ME. THEY HAVE HAD NUMEROUS "AMNESTY DAYS", AND HAVE TAKEN IN THOUSANDS OF ANIMALS SO FAR. I DON'T BELIEVE THEY HAVE ALL BEEN PLACED. DOING RESCUE AND REHOMING MYSELF, THERE IS NOT THAT MUCH SPACE OUT THERE AVAIALBE.

You could be right. I have no idea. I am not saying much at all. I'm just saying that when I inquired about the animals that was the reply I got. I hope it is true. It does seem silly if the animals were readopted in Florida, but I don't know that it worked that way.

I only know what I was told, but they were quick to answer and polite about doing so.

Perhaps you should contact them. The contact info . is at the bottom of their ad.

DID YOU EXPECT THEM TO SAY THEY WERE THROWN INTO A GARBAGE CAN AND GASSED, OR INJECTED! WHOSALE SLAUGHTER OF PETS DOESNT LOOK GOOD IN THE MEDIA. PETA KILLS MORE DOGS AND CATS THAN ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES (PUBLIC RECORD BEFORE PETAFILES ATTACK ME 90%+ KILL RATE IN THEIR SHELTERS), BUT YOU DONT SEE THAT IN THEIR ADS DO YOU? AND DONT GET THE WRONG IDEA, I AM NOT TAKING THIS OUT ON YOU, I JUST KNOW HOW THESE THINGS GO DOWN USUALLY.

The part in parentheses confused me. Can you explain?

People were allowed to fill out an aplication to adopt the animals before the event took place. They allowed 50 people out of the applications that were received who had the proper permits. So I don't think any of the animals were killed that were turned in. A friend of mine took in 4 burms and an anaconda.

That does make it seem like breeders/collectors might have been capitalizing under the guise of charity.

I am not saying your friend did that. I'm just saying that it sounds like the potential is certainly there for that to have been done.