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Reptile owners - Stay away from Mooresville, NC

K contacted the local newspaper early this week and they don't want to touch this story.
I'm pretty sure the larger newspapers wouldn't mind hearing about the BS here that the Mooresville Tribune won't cover.
Got to wonder if the Trib is in Town Hall's back pocket.
With the physical toll this has taken on my wife, I'm ready to tie this town up with so much litigation people's grandchildren will need attorneys.
 
These were taken at the Mooresville Public Library's Kick off to Summer Reading. They had us come out with a few animals to do a presentation on conservation.

This is Mayor Chris Montgomery holding one of our boa girls, Sylvia
MayorChris2.jpg


MayorChris1.jpg
 
Well, she had emailed him and asked him to call her. He's only in his office twice a week, though and currently, she is unable to speak more than a couple words at a time. If he does call, looks like he'll have to deal with me.
 
I'd be getting the word out to the larger papers in the area...and the state capitol!!

They usually LOVE to dig into the dirt of smaller cities and towns!!

Send them a copy of the pics of the mayor along with the info of which agencies have cleared you, too, showing it's only certain people and certain factions/agencies within the town who are giving you flack!
 
Thats a good idea, Donna. I have the contact info to the state reps and the governor's office along with some of the news stations and larger publications. Maybe if we can get the news out on who has given us the "clear to go" the other smaller thorns in our side will back down.
 
and since you have the photos of the mayor halfway smiling while holding a boa.... It would kinda mess with his political career to stand in your way. Would kinda show him as a hypocrite (sp?) wouldnt it :D

I would definitely take it to the larger papers.... and maybe even the news stations. I know here in AR one of the TV News stations has what they call "on your side"... they do investagative reporting on stuff like this. Its worth checking out.
 
He was all about holding her. Went on and on about how he loves reptiles.
So what do you think: Send them an email with a brief intro and summary of whats going on followed with the letter to Town Hall?
 
The truth... the whole truth... and nuttin but the truth :D

Give the media all the info you have... and let them have a field day with these jokers. If you have anything in writing of meetings / emails BEFORE you bought the house... then burn them with it.
 
I'll do my best to get K to agree on some disclosure about her condition. She can be pretty "prideful" as she calls it when it comes to presenting herself publically.
She was raised in a pretty traditional Lakota household where you "show compassion and kindness, but never show weakness."
Trying to convince her that we can be strong for her is a challenge. She would fight to the death for her family and her animals. I'm scared thats whats going to happen.
 
I had a couple more ideas... dont know if they will help

What about contacting USArk?

What about contacting a certian Reptile Radioshow that has a rather large following.... Im sure they can get the word out... and would probably do so happily. Shot me a PM and I'll give you the info you need. We cant discuss it on the forums here.
 
Already did it.
The only thing I can tell you is that you need to retain legal counsel and explore what your options are. We are a trade association so there is little we can actually do other than help you find the right attorney. If you do not take the bull by the horns and fight back legally I fear that you will lose more ground. Keep me posted.
 
Tell her she made me cry, dammit!!

A point can be made that the snakes are therapeutic to her condition.

And I know MANY NAs. I know about the pride issue. I'm Italian/Scot/German. We won't even go there!!

I can out-stubborn her 3 to 1!! LOL!!

As AA members always say-The first step is ADMITTING you have a problem!!

It's the only way to get past it!! You don't hide it!!
 
Now, my husband is gone, my vehicle is gone
Click to expand...

Glad to see that your husband isn't gone after all! Is Mooresville responsible for your vehicle being gone?

I'm wondering if all this isn't a great big misunderstanding. I'm NOT defending Mooresville or the invasion of the HOA/city/county upon your family, nor the threat to remove your beloved pets.
I, myself, value my privacy and certainly understand why you would feel threatened and despair at "big brother" breathing down your throats.
I too think of my pets/herps as my family ... you threaten my human or animal family, you will meet mighty opposition.

I'm only wondering if the little place where you live is confused since your website previously represented Mayan Traders as a non-profit reptile rescue and solicited donations to continue that mission as well as offering specific services with your reptiles and their respective costs as well as feeders, like a business venture.

Maybe they're just needing clarification as to your intent ... and whatever $ they can bleed you for if you are running a business, of course.

Again, I am NOT defending them ... just wondering if Mooresville is so small that they need some very elementary education and eye-opening ... not necessarily serious counter-attacks to further alienate them. ANY public education of herp awareness/appreciation is a great thing; you've already passed the tests by the agencies that really count.

What's that old saying? Kill 'em with kindness. And that other one? Knowledge is power.

You already have the Mayor cuddling a snake, you have a meeting scheduled ... now go kill 'em with intellect and logic and knowlege :)
 
How it got here. Sorry, its long.

In the 4 months we'd been here, I still wasn't able to find work so we had talked about it so three weeks ago I left her here with my son and went to another state to try to find work there. I've come back here because I don't want her facing this alone.
We surrendered the van when I left because we ran out of money. When she wrote the original post, she was falling apart. I guess thats why she put the disclaimer at the top.

When she was setting up the website, she was setting up with a goal in mind. The feeders page, the services page, all of it was part of what was going to become... the finished product (I guess you'd say?).
The last thing added was the donation buttons and I think that was like a week before everything broke loose.
We only had 5-8 and on a good day 10 hits on the site per day and most of those were repeats.
Her idea was if someone calls and wants one of the services or wants feeders, then it would prove there was some value to what she wanted to do and she would take the next steps to make it happen. We just didn't want to waste $75 on the license if there wasn't going to be a need for it. (She had actually been talking to her friend that designed the site about taking down the services and feeders pages because they hadn't produced anything)

She had gotten an EIN# and the IRS paperwork to fill out to get 501(c)(3) status and was trying to get someone at Town Hall to tell her what was neccessary to become a registered exotic reptile rescue in our county. No one would give her any answers.

After I left, she was dealing with caring for the animals on her own, answering the phone calls of "My leopard gecko just had something odd fall out the back of her. What is it?" and "I need to rehome my boa" which didn't bother her. Thats what shes driven to do. What caught her sideways was right after animal control gave us the clear, then came NC Fish & Wildlife, which was fine and we were all good, but it was draining because she views it as a cowardly attack (again, anonymous) hiding behind a badge. That made her mad. Then within a couple days came the call from Planning and Zoning. The woman was very unpleasant and wouldn't let K get a word in edgewise and wouldn't tell her who the complaintant was. That brought her to a breaking point. She felt like she was fighting a ghost. Hence the original post.

She started tearing the website apart and (once she calmed down and started thinking rationally again) decided instead of focusing on rescue and education, she wanted to focus on building a strong reptile community.

Then the notice came from the property manager from the HOA threatening the animals themselves. Again, this was an anonymous complaint, riddled with inaccuracies, accusing her of running a reptile exchange program and my son's taxi of being an illegal escort service. (No lie)

Now we have been assured that the HOA's investigation will turn out fine and that its been one person causing all the trouble. But with having to rise above one obstacle after another, with no time to catch her breath, it has taken a serious toll on my wife. Shes angry that someone she doesn't even know has the ability to try to destroy her family and everything we've worked hard to build up.

I'm sure, to a degree, that alot of this can be hashed out when we meet with Zoning and Planning and the HOA as they only have one side of the story. K has lost hope with this community and just wants to shut everything down and raise our animals in peace, but the calls for help keep coming in. I talked her into keeping the website open until the end of the month. Hopefully, we can come to some sort of resolution.

I'll try the nice guy approach and see if it works. I'm keeping an attorney close by, though, just in case.

Sorry for the long winded post. I'm usually not so wordy.
 
TBrouse said:
I cannot, for her sake, allow her to pursue trying to start a reptile center here. It would kill her.
Click to expand...

I have sent a note to the zoning people asking them to explain themselves.
I hope to hear back from them.


It is my personal opinion that the concept of one adult person in a couple relationship deciding whether to 'allow' the other adult to do something is outdated.
If y'all have chosen this path together, that is different.

I hope the best for both of y'all. I am hoping that increasing publicity, some education, and good communication will help resolve issues on both sides so that y'all, the reptiles, and the town can all live in harmony.
 
Thank you, Lucille.
I know it seems a bit old fashioned, but theres other circumstances that are at play. My wife has a terminal illness and the stress from all of this has caused the disease to take over.
I don't mean to come off sounding like a pig. I just want as many years together as I can get.
 
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