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The Columbus Reptile show was Raided by Fish&wildlife officers

R

ronb9560

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I know this is not the right place for this, but I wanted everyone to Know that the Columbus OH show was raided today. Fish&wildlife officers moved in just as they were opening the doors at 9:00.

They told the large crowd that they let us in at 12:00. Of course this did not happen. When I left at 12:50 they still would not let anyone in.

Now, I do not know all the details but there was atleast 3 arrests and they were handing out $10,000 to $15,000 fines like candy. (According to Vender who was leaving the show).

Hopefully no one I know! Either way, you had better watch what you take to a show and that States laws.

Good luck all.

Ron Bischoff
 
That's awful, do you have any idea what the people were fined for? What laws did they break, etc.?

Thanks!
 
So the show was only opened for a little while???? Or was it opened at all?? My dad and sister were sitting up there, I thought the owner of that show was really strict on what was allowed to be sold anyhow...well that really must have sucked for a lot of people,,I know my dad had a almost 4 hr drive..thanks for posting, I'm sure this isn't the right place, but it's the place most people look at first..
Shannon Hall
 
I believe they only let the Venders in

From what I was told, they let all the Venders in to setup. Then just as they were getting ready to open the doors the Fish&Wildlife officers moved in.
I was not there at the start of the show.

Again this is what I was told. I did however have friend inside with a booth and I will know more tonight.

Ron Bischoff
 
You guys all left too early!

They opened it a little after one.
I know one of the vendors (the one on the left wall who always has a bunch of import lizards in 10 gallons) was busted for transporting Indian pythons across state lines. He was from PA and would only sell them to PA residents, but I guess it was still illegal. The guy with the accent who sometimes has Uroplatus geckos was also busted but I don't know what for. I heard they also searched his house. There were prarie dog related rumors too, but all the usual mammal dealers were still there.
They only charged a dollar for admission when everyone got in, and the place was pretty crowded! Unfortunately, also a little more empty vendor-wise.
Pretty sucky, but I guess it could have been a lot worse.

Erin Benner
 
Some vendors had mammels. They were also looking for prarie dogs. They are illegal now because of the monkeypox incident.
 
Man is it something in the water

Also here in Michigan 3 homes were raided at 9 am
taken from the homes were certain species of turtles and rat snakes, most notably black rat snakes and blandings turtles some albino black rats were also taken. One owner has a permit issued by the DNR for the black rats. They took most of his babies
Just a heads up that if you get a phone call in the morning [and no one is there]you have about 1 half hour or so.
Make sure you know your state laws and regulations , what permits are needed and so forth.
 
These Michigan raids were related to the Columbus Show

If I'm not mistaken. Do you know the names of these people?? Drop me an email Contact Me if it's who I think it is, they were related for sure!! Sad day in the herp community when Ohio is meesing with us!! I think mammals were part of it but not all, alot of BS went on inside (I'm a vendor) and there were alot of very unhappy people. You know what sucks even worse??? The Dept. doing the raids don't even know the local laws/regulations. I witnessed their "expert" looking through his "Peterson's Field Guide" to try to identify various species via methods of "sketched" illustrations. He was wrong on more than one occassion - TRUST ME. What a crock...bad day. I feel for all the good people that set-up, and run the show. They're some of the best in the hobby for sure!! Although all went fairly well, and most cooperated but I still think those guys/girls are a big freaking joke.
 
The agencies involved were raiding the homes of vendors from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana and other states at the exact same time that they were at the show interrogating them so that they would not have any resistance or any owners at home. They got locksmiths to open peoples homes with their warrants and took animals and cages, hard drives from computers, paperwork, pictures and much more. They are trying to destroy us all! Don't worry about rape, murder, bank robberies, arson or anything else because the government has made it very clear that we are worse scum than the people who commit those crimes as they have taken this level of action against us and not them!!! This is how your tax dollars are being spent!! PEOPLE, get angry and do something NOW or this is all over!!!
 
Hi Troy & Evan, Anyone know what exactly was in the warrants? Any ideas what they were looking for? I thought warrants aren't that easy to get. Yea.
Evan your right and they're trying to pass these"Blanket" Bills against us everywhere in the USA.
I've been angry a long time and it just keeps building and building.
Take Care, Rob:angry:
 
Rob BryertonRKK said:
I thought warrants aren't that easy to get.
Click to expand...

Actually, they are very easy to get. The only thing needed is pobable cause that..

1. A crime has been committed
2. The person being investigated committed the crime
3. Evidence of the crime may be found on the premises or on the person to be searched.

Probable cause is just above reasonable suspicion and way below beyond a reasonable doubt so it's not a hard burden to over come.
 
#2 Should be

The person being investigated committed the crime, or has in their possession evidence tending to show a crime has been committed.

That'll teach me not to preview my posts. :D
 
Since passage of the "patriot act" warrants are much easier to obtain. Under the pretense of protecting us from terrorism the USA Attorney General has shown the American people that he was in actuality only trying to errode our liberties and freedoms as we now have less rights and "probable cause" standards have been lowered for everything. In the future, you will need a written note from Mr. Ashcroft's office to go to the bathroom let alone keep a pet that his socialist form of government feels you have no right to. Pretty soon it will be tropical fish and maybe dogs under 10 pounds.
 
This really sucks, I wanted to get a table at the next show but now I'm worried... I guess I wouldn't have anything to worry about, but it still makes me very nervous. I just wanna sell some sand boas.
What are we supposed to do? We vote Republican and get John Ashcroft, we vote Democratic and get PETA.

Erin Benner
 
The warrents were issued because all three
Nelson
Critterman
and James from pet city
All three of these guys have sold protected or indigenous animals to undercover officers within 6 months or so , hell James sold a captive born Blandings turtle to one officer over 2 YEARS ago!!
We as responsible vendors have to watch our back and keep abbrest of all local state laws or we will give these asses just cause[in thier mind].
They even took some of crittermans albino black rats because he had more than he was 'allowed' and all of his black rat babies.
critterman also had a permit from the DNR
 
You know, those Fish and Wildlife guys are lucky. I'm sure there are a number of us that would have been the ones with guns in our hands when the door got kicked in.
 
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