Details are still sketchy on this but I find it a very interesting story. I'll continue to try to find more out about it. I don't know what a Post & Parcel Plus store is exactly, but I assume it's some sort of store that accepts packages for FedEx and UPS.
What I worry about is the animal cruelty charge. This stands to set a very bad precedent. Perhaps there were additional circumstances like no heat packs, or maybe he wasn't using overnight service, I don't know.
The fact that two of the snakes were venomous makes matters worse, but that fact apparently had no bearing on the charge of animal cruelty.
This story bears watching. I'll post the only two articles I could find on it so far. If anyone knows anything more please post it.
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A Rock Hill man was arrested after trying to mail a 7-foot python and two copperhead snakes, according to a Rock Hill police department report.
Robert Keziah, 23, of 829 Lucas St., Apt. B, was charged with cruelty to animals after trying to ship the snakes from the Post & Parcel Plus at India Hook Road, the report said.
Keziah came in to the store Thursday afternoon and said he needed to overnight some cups and saucers to a guest who had left them at his house, said Nicholas Marthers, 25, the store's owner.
"He was stuttering the whole time," Marthers said.
On his way out, Keziah asked if the store could ship live animals, Marthers said.
Marthers sensed something suspicious, he said, so he opened the package.
Inside were two pillow cases, one green and one white. Marthers saw snakes inside them.
"I thought, maybe he's sending something he killed to a taxidermist," Marthers said. "That's when I called the police and said, 'I'm not messing with this.'"
The police came and figured out there were live snakes inside the pillow cases.
"The white bag was moving a little," Marthers said. "Then they picked up the green bag and you could see the snakes' scales through the bag."
The police, with the clerk's help, got Keziah to come back to the store, where they arrested him.
One of the snakes was so cold it took 20 minutes for it to lift its head, the report stated.
The York County Forensics Services Unit will hold the python and the two copperheads until Keziah's court date, the report stated. S.C. Division of Natural Resources officers will help investigate.
Link to Story