Seeking Advice on Dan Scolardo

I recently bought a caiman from Dan Scolardo. I'm aware that you need a permit to ship caimans over state lines. I asked him in my first email if he could help explain to me the process of getting this permit. He told me he would cover it since he was the shipper and then told me the price I would need to send him over paypal. I paid him and he sent the caiman. When I got the caiman it was shipped by FedEx. I didn't realize it at the time but FedEx does not legally ship caimans. What caught my attention though was that the box was not labeled in any way other then the shipping address slip. Then I noticed there was no copy of the permit either. I asked a few friends what they thought and none of them knew what to say about it since none of them had ever dealed with Caimans or shipping reptiles. The next thing I noticed wrong was the Caiman would not eat. Then 4 days later died.
I emailed Dan Scolardo then about this matter and he said he didn't label the box cause - and I quote..
"the box was marked properly with nothing on it. If you mark it animal, then you risk someone kicking it, throwing it, or stealing it or some employee wanting to open it and play with it and then keeping it. I am quite experienced from watching and listening to my peers stories for decades and took their recommendations to heart and know exactly how to ship reptiles vice what the clowns say on forums and have shipped several thousands of boxes and never had a single animal arrive dead or injured nor was any box ever stolen. If you mark the box live animal, and its a risk someone along the way will drop it or rob it. "
He then told me that he could not do any refunds or replacements. And tried to find every reason he could think of to not put the blame on himself. He blamed his provider and me but never himself.
After getting no sort of progress out of him I asked a couple friends what they would suggest. One of them said I should call FedEx and see what they say about the shipping rules. So I did and they told me then that they do not ship caimans. So the man I spoke too in the FedEx department told me he would write this up and I should expect a call from his manager.
I then called Paypal as my friends suggested next. I did so and they would not help me get back the money. They called the case something but I forgot what it was called. Either way they said they couldn't help me cause they have no way of investigating it.
Dan then sent me an email letting me know he didn't appreciate me making a claim on paypal and that he didn't want to speak to me any more and he put me on his blocked email list. So I can not discuss anything further with him.


So here is what I need help with. What should I do now to get my money refunded? I do not wish to get a replaced caiman from him since I now know he is a shady business man. But I do feel like I diserve a refund of my money.

Thank you, Karl Jordan

Contact the Florida Dept of Fish and Wildlife, as well as your state's DFW. Let them know what happened. Take pictures of everything.

Follow PayPal's advice on how to get your money back, send them whatever they want, pictures, affidavits, whatever.

Have the caiman necropsied by a qualified vet to determine cause of death.

Save everything, receipts, reports, emails, everything.

Contact a lawyer.

With any luck, the lack of a permit (which I'm sure there is no permit) will put scolaro in the can for a while.

Maybe someday, he'll be shut down.

For the record and so that searches come up properly, his name is Dan Scolaro out of Boca Raton, Florida. His business name is DTS Herps.

Even though many of us here have plenty of experience with scolaro, it would be good to post whatever emails you have. Pictures of the dead caiman, pictures of the packaging and labels, and copies of reports that you get back.

I'm sure you've sent scolaro proof that the caiman is indeed dead, correct?

Yes I sent him proof (photos). I have the caiman in the freezer right now. You cant tell from just looking at it that it looks anything other then slightly skiny. I still have the box and packaging materials (newspaper with snake bag) but Ive lost the lable with my address on it. I still have the FedEx tracking number though and I have filed a report with FedEx over the matter.

Does anyone have the phone number to the Florida department of Fish and Wildlife?

Are you sure there is a Florida Fish and Wildlife department? In Texas, we have the Texas Parks and Wildlife agency that deals with Texas indigenous animal matters, then there is a FEDERAL US Fish and Wildlife agency that deals with migratory birds, and wildlife laws and regulations at the national level.

Okay, I found a link. You can at least start here:
http://myfwc.com/

USFW, Feds:
http://www.fws.gov/

Dan's response in these situations is well documented...but there are a few things that should be pointed out.
- If you call FedEx, and ask them if they ship reptiles (regardless of the type), the answer will be no. A special waiver is required, but that part is generally not addressed in their response to general inquiries. To the best of my knowledge, there is no specific statement against the shipping of crocodilians by approved accounts.
- There is no permit required to ship spectacled caiman across state lines (unless something has changed in the past 7 yrs or so). If a permit is required to possess the caiman in your state, it is your responsibility to acquire it. (If they are regulated in a given state, shipping is subject to the rules of that state)
- Many, if not most, dealers do not label packages. I suspect it goes back to the days of needing to ship on the sly because the companies wouldn't allow them. The rules regarding this have been debated repeatedly over the years, and the two sides are pretty well set in their points of view.