Snake shipper charged with animal cruelty

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

Man accused of trying to ship snakes
AIMEE JUAREZ
ajuarez@charlotteobserver.com

A man packed three snakes into a box and tried to ship them out of a Rock Hill parcel service Thursday afternoon, according to a Rock Hill Police report. He was arrested on charges of animal cruelty.

The store employee became suspicious when the man, Robert Keziah, 23, asked whether he could ship live animals through the parcel service, at 2210 India Hook Road, shortly after 2 p.m. The employee told him he couldn't and asked Keziah what was in the box, the report stated. Keziah said the box contained cups and left. The report didn't say where he planned to ship the snakes. Under company policy, the employee opened the box and saw two pillow cases, which contained three live snakes -- one pillow case had a 7-foot python, and the other had two copperheads, according to the report.

The python "was so cold that it took approximately 20 minutes before it would pick its head up," the report stated. "The way the snakes were being shipped in the box and the conditions they went through were cruel and inhuman."

The snakes were valued at $1,300.

Link to Story

This is disturbing. How long until we will not be allowed to ship any package unless it is packed at the drop off point in front of a witness? As of late there seems to be more and more stories popping up of snakes being found by a carrier.

The article also shows quite a bit about this Post & Parcel Plus Company as well.

Marthers sensed something suspicious, he said, so he opened the package.
"I thought, maybe he's sending something he killed to a taxidermist,"

Under company policy, the employee opened the box

I would like to know more about a company that just opens packages as it sees fit.
If I were investigator on this case, I would also want to know about this clerks extra sensory perception that something was wrong. Yet, he thought the guy was sending something to the taxidermist.

He may have shaken the box and since it did not make any noise that was grounds to be opened.

I would like to know more about a company that just opens packages as it sees fit.
If I were investigator on this case, I would also want to know about this clerks extra sensory perception that something was wrong. Yet, he thought the guy was sending something to the taxidermist. [/quote]

All the shipping companies reserve the right to open a package if they have a reasonable suspicion that something might be in there that shouldn't be.
One point definately needs to be clarified to determine if the employee had grounds to be suspicious.
The two articles contradict each other on the order of events. One says he came in and said he needed to ship some dishes to someone and on the way out asked if they shipped snakes, while the other states he came in and asked about the snake policy then after being asked what was in the box claimed it was cups.
To me if he asked on his way out it would be far less suspicious than if he asked first before claiming what the contents were. I tend to believe he asked about shipping snakes first then claimed they were dishes after being told snakes were not allowed. Had he lied about the contents off the bat that would suggest he had full knowledge that snakes were not allowed and wouldn't needed to have asked at all.

I can understand how to an outsider completely unfamiliar with the reptile industry it might seem inhumane to put an animal in a box and ship it UPS. They have no knowledge that this is common practice and hundreds of thousands of reptiles have been transported this way with a very low mortality rate over all.
It just scares me that in a court of law it might be ruled that this is inhumane with no qualifying statements. What I mean is what if the verdict basically says this man is guilty of animal cruelty because he attempted to ship snakes through UPS. Not that he is guilty of cruelty because he tried to ship them with no heat packs or with second day delivery. If the shipping of reptiles through the overnight carriers were to be ruled inhumane it would at least stand to cuse us problems in the future by forcing other shippers to appear in court to prove it is not inhumane at all.

I understand Clay. The way I read it was that he said he was shipping dishes. I thought it was odd that the clerk believed he was shipping animals to the taxidermist. I didn’t under the suspicion part.

One thing the guy who was shipping the snakes had better feel lucky for....that the store clerk didn't somehow get bitten through the bags when he opened the box. Had that happened, the charges would have been far more dire against him I am sure.

Originally Posted by Aprylla

One thing the guy who was shipping the snakes had better feel lucky for....that the store clerk didn't somehow get bitten through the bags when he opened the box. Had that happened, the charges would have been far more dire against him I am sure.

That's what I was thinking. If you come across a bag that appears to have a snake inside, how the heck do you know what kind of snake it is? Why would you (as a delivery company employee) just open it? If they thought he was being "cruel" to animals, why didn't they just wait for animal control to arrive? (maybe they did, but I'd think the article would specify that.)

Either way, the man could have been in violation of the Lacy act. The law says the box must be clearly marked of the contents. I mark all of mine, so that the contents are known. If they claim it is inhumane to ship them, then you would be in trouble for shipping them, as proof of the box being marked. If you don't mark the box, then you are in violation of the Lacy act. Either way we loose. I hope this don't become a problem, or we all may be paying the price.