Local Reptile Hoarder - Nothing Being Done

[ShadowSpark]

There's this guy who lives near me who's considered the local reptile "expert." He's the guy people tend to call if they find a rattlesnake or other unwanted reptile in their yard. He also does reptile education shows. Now, I've been to a couple of his shows, and most of his info is good, as are his recommendations for what to do if you encounter this snake or that snake.

The problem is, he invited us (my mom and me) over to see his collection, and when we went, we saw that he's displaying typical hoarder behavior. He had over 50 snakes, including several local venomous ones, most of them wild-caught (yes, he does have the licenses and permits), and the conditions they were being housed in were awful. The smaller snakes were in those plastic critter carrier things, all too small. When he was getting them out to show us, he would look into the bin and say "Oh, you're out of water." Every snake he got out to show us was aggressive, even the Ball Pythons, which are usually pretty calm.

The cages for the larger snakes had water, but there was more waste and bits of shed skin in there than substrate. It was all dry, and those cages can't have been cleaned in months. The snakes didn't look overly thin, but most of them had scars (which makes sense, as he told us he just drops a mouse into the tank and leaves it). Then there was his feeding room. It reminded me of those pictures you see of puppy mills, except with mice. Over-full cages, waste everywhere, dead mice just lying around at room temperature. It was disgusting, and it stank.

We went home, thoroughly scrubbed ourselves, and called animal control. They said they'd send someone over to check it out. This was maybe 7 or 8 months ago. A few weeks back, he offered to sell us a kingsnake that he'd bought at a show a few years ago. We weren't all that interested, but we figured it would be a good chance to see if animal control had done anything. So we went over. He had dropped his total snake count to around 30, but the conditions weren't any better. If anything, they were worse. The state of feeding room was nauseating. He'd had 2 4-year-old Hog Island boas the first time we'd come, and they weren't there this time. When I asked what happened to them, he nonchalantly told me that they'd gotten sick and died. Considering the lack of heating on the tank, I'm not that surprised.

We called animal control again, and they said they'd had someone go over and speak to the guy last time, to do it again would only be badgering him, and there was nothing else they could do. That feeding room should be reported to the CDC as a biohazard area. How many diseases do mice carry? And with piles of dead ones lying around...

I'm not happy, and I'm concerned for those snakes, but I don't know what else to do.

 

[j_dunlavy]

it might be worth looking into health codes, city ordinances, etc... to see if he can be stopped for some other violation.
perhaps his rodent issue violates something related to the health code?

There have been informational BOI posts made about people like this; it may be worth posting one to alert people to the condition of this person's animals (to prevent potential pathogens from being spread to other collections).

I hate people like this; not only do the animals suffer, but these people give the impression that anyone with a large number of snakes is a "hoarder" and neglects their animals.

I really hope you can get him shut down and rescue his critters; he has no business keeping animals.

 

[Mikkwa]

Robyn are there any Rescue Organizations/Facilities in your area? What I mean is the actual facilities that house rescued pets and go out to investigate situations they find out about?

Granted these are mainly geared toward dogs & cats, and parrots in a few areas. Not all rescues will get involved for other pets species other than the kinds they work with, but most are in contact with rescues throughout the US. There are some that are more than willing to check into reports of neglect/abuse or contact other rescues who deal with those species.

Worth a try checking if any would look into this keeper's conditions for his collection and feeders. Hope you can find someone who will actually get involved and do something for the animals.

 

[ShadowSpark]

Robyn are there any Rescue Organizations/Facilities in your area? What I mean is the actual facilities that house rescued pets and go out to investigate situations they find out about?

Granted these are mainly geared toward dogs & cats, and parrots in a few areas. Not all rescues will get involved for other pets species other than the kinds they work with, but most are in contact with rescues throughout the US. There are some that are more than willing to check into reports of neglect/abuse or contact other rescues who deal with those species.

Worth a try checking if any would look into this keeper's conditions for his collection and feeders. Hope you can find someone who will actually get involved and do something for the animals.

The only rescue organization we've got that animal control works with is the local humane society, and they don't do anything other than cats and dogs. I'm looking at a few other rescue groups, but all of them appear to be "voluntary surrender" only, so I don't know if they'd help me.

I'm also looking into the city and state codes, and it looks like there might be a few possibilities there, but I don't know how to go about reporting it.

The only good thing I could say about his collection is that the tanks for the venomous snakes had locks on them. I don't like getting into confrontations with people, but I won't stand by and let more animals be neglected like that.

 

[Mikkwa]

Well that sucks about the local rescue. The one in the largest town closest to me is run under ASPCA I think, but they get no help from them and rely strictly on donations. They only keep dogs & cats at their facility where they adopt them out. They have volunteers go out and check on reports of hoarding and abuse. They have rescued countless horses and cattle along with all the dogs & cats they hear about.

Not sure who you would contact about code violations. Here in 'Small Town USA' where I live it would be City Hall, but we're talking about little towns with only a couple thousand population at the most. The town with the rescue I spoke of is over 100,000, so they have the power to get things done when they want to.

 

[ShadowSpark]

Well that sucks about the local rescue. The one in the largest town closest to me is run under ASPCA I think, but they get no help from them and rely strictly on donations. They only keep dogs & cats at their facility where they adopt them out. They have volunteers go out and check on reports of hoarding and abuse. They have rescued countless horses and cattle along with all the dogs & cats they hear about.

Not sure who you would contact about code violations. Here in 'Small Town USA' where I live it would be City Hall, but we're talking about little towns with only a couple thousand population at the most. The town with the rescue I spoke of is over 100,000, so they have the power to get things done when they want to.

My town has about 10,500 people living here at last count, though the tourist population is huge. I'm looking into a few possibilities, so we'll see what happens.

 

[bcr229]

I would go through the health department for his county and see if there are any health ordinances, not animal control ordinances, that could be applied to this case.

Thirty snakes is not an unmanageable number to maintain, I have more than twice that... but mine are clean and I don't have dead feeders lying in their own excrement to rot either.

 

[neilg]

thanks to animal hoarders, theres likely to be widespread limits just like there are for #dogs/cats in many locales already.

for venomous snakes in a residence, despite licenses/permits, perhaps there is a limit already? ought to be.. fires, break-ins, etc happen and could spell disaster for youth and others in the neighborhood of a house full of snakes including multiple venomous ones.

 

[gila7150]

for venomous snakes in a residence, despite licenses/permits, perhaps there is a limit already? ought to be.. fires, break-ins, etc happen and could spell disaster for youth and others in the neighborhood of a house full of snakes including multiple venomous ones.

I'm all for common sense regulations related to keeping venomous snakes. (i.e. escape proof cages, cage locks, safety protocols, demonstrating competence prior to keeping). However, it doesn't make sense to me for the government to decide an arbitrary number that can be kept.
A fire that is significant enough to destroy a cage will also kill the animal inside. A home intruder is not going to mess with snakes unless they want to steal them. A home intruder without experience who tries to steal them will probably get bit (which is awesome). Your logic would also apply to guns since stolen guns could get in to the hands of criminals who would cause harm. In my opinion, it's always best to keep know nothing politicians out of our hobbies, homes and personal liberties.
The vast majority of venomous keepers manage their collections in a responsible manor. I'm not interested in giving their liberties to individuals who think "Snakes on a Plane" could really happen.

 

[bcr229]

I'm all for common sense regulations related to keeping venomous snakes. (i.e. escape proof cages, cage locks, safety protocols, demonstrating competence prior to keeping).

...

In my opinion, it's always best to keep know nothing politicians out of our hobbies, homes and personal liberties.

While I agree with your first statement, you and I both know that to a politician a "common sense regulation" is synonymous with "ban it".

OP have you had any luck getting a county agency involved other than Animal Control?

 

[gila7150]

While I agree with your first statement, you and I both know that to a politician a "common sense regulation" is synonymous with "ban it".

Sad but true. Most of them would like to impose a nanny state to protect us from ourselves.

 

[ShadowSpark]

OP have you had any luck getting a county agency involved other than Animal Control?

Not yet. I'm considering pointing a reporter from the local paper in this guy s's direction, since he's known as one of the local "experts," maybe they could go in on the pretense of interviewing him about his hobby and check out the conditions. But going that route could get messy, so there are a couple of other things I want to try first.