Off The Ark Exotic Pets INQUIRY

Anyone have any plusses or minusses, or other info on them? They are also called Off The Ark (with exotic pets following those words).

Thanks.

I purchased a boa from Vinny a while back and was satisfied with the transaction. I got a beautiful snake out of it.

Chris

They are good people. I bought a pair of Cape York Spotted Pythons off them in March. Everything went smoothly, and they are eating machines.

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Off The Ark consistently lists reptiles for sale that are native to Virginia, and are therefore illegal to sell in Virginia. Examples are Eastern painted turtles, yellow bellied sliders, both of which are featured on his web site. A few years ago he consistently had crocodilians and I did see an ad on Kingsnake recently that he had placed for one. Crocodilians are illegal in Virginia without a permit. Only two places have a permit, Luray reptile zoo and the Virginia Marine science museum. There is a grandfather clause to this, but it only allows for ones owned previous to the ban, it must be renewed every year, and is not transferable. Virginia has not statewide laws concerning venomous, that is regulated by locality. This store is located in Chesterfield County which does not allow the ownership or sale of venomous reptiles or arthropods. I have read the ordinance and it specifically mentions Boiga. When they have had Mangrove snakes I asked about that and was told that they're colubrids. Yes, they are colubrids, but at his "summer camp" one of the activities is LD50 tests on mice with mangrove snake venom. On the website there's listed "Reasons to come by the shop: Weekly venomous demonstrations". Don't know exactly what that entails, but it certainly is an acknoledgement of having venomous reptiles.

Several years ago I worked for a private breeder in Richmond where the facility was not open to the public. At one point high school age kids started coming by and asking if we could give them a tour and something to prove they had been by. I showed one or two around and ask why they had come by. They told me it was extra credit for a science class at school. They class was taught by Vinny Ferraiolo (sp?). I phoned the school and was able to speak with him. I explained that we were a closed facility and weren't open to the general public. He mentioned that a few of his students had come through. I told him that was an exception, and I would appreciate his not using us as part of his class. He replied that they must have misunderstood, he mentioned us because we had such quality animals, but never said anything about going by or extra credit. I asked him if he would reiterate to his classes that we were not open to the public. Within a week a student came by with sheet of extra credit activities that Vinny handed out in class. One of the items was to visit our facility. It said it was difficult to get in, because it was closed to the public, but whoever was able to visit would get extra credit. It was a preprinted class handout, not a misunderstood remark.
As you can see I do not recommend supporting Off the Ark. While some of the above relies on my memory of events from a few years ago, the selling of Virginia native species can be easily verified by a visit to his web site.

Andy Via

Let's not forget the whole "biosphere" fiasco - in which teacher Vinnie claims to have found a local pet shop (Off the Ark) that was just oh so helpful. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ight=biosphere

Folks, this is straight from the book:



The Chesterfield County Ordinance, Sec.4-3, states:

"B. No person shall keep or permit to be kept on his premises any wild or exotic animal as a pet, for display or for exhibition purposes, whether gratuitously or for a fee. This prohibition shall not apply to performing animal exhibitions, circuses, veterinary clinics, or indoor/outdoor recreation facilities which have proper zoning and licenses from the government; provided however, that no person shall exhibit or display any wild or exotic animal in a manner so that persons other that their handlers can pet, fondle or come in direct physical contact with them."

A poisonous snake is considered an wild or exotic animal by code. Therefore, it is illegal to keep or sell venomous reptiles in Chesterfield County.

I'm sorry, I forgot to add that this was a quote from the Manager of Chesterfield County Animal Control.

I've been in Off The Ark, the cages are not clean at all, the store smells really bad, and he has copperheads and cottonmouths on display in the store. Most of the animals looked sick and underweight.

This has been reported to the county.