-Laura
Sunday, March 23, 2014
California teacher arrested for hoarding hundreds of snakes
When most people think of animal abuse, abuse of mammals comes to mind. Sadly, animal abuse can happen to any captive or domestic animal. In this news story I found, a California elementary school teacher was arrested for hoarding hundreds of snakes, dead and alive. More than 400 ball pythons (Python regius- see picture below) were found in the man's home, more than half of which were dead. Apparently he was breeding the snakes as a business on the side, but it soon turned into a unhealthy hoarding practice. Luckily, the Southern California Herpetology and Rescue nonprofit group saved 184 snakes and are helping them live healthier lives! The group is also working to find homes for the snakes, which will hopefully end up in school classrooms and nature centers. The intended audience for this story is for the general public, maybe in hopes that people will tune into their neighbors' activities more so that other cases of animal abuse can be stopped and revealed. While snakes might not be my favorite herp, they still deserve proper treatment, as should any animal!
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5 comments:
I was reading an article about this a few days ago. Apparently in the pet snake business a few years ago, different colored/patterned snakes or "morphs" were really popular. In recent years, they aren't as big of a trend. People would spend thousands of dollars to invest in a good breeding snake, and now they are not worth nearly as much.
What a sad story. Unfortunately, the desire for exotic pets can have tragic consequences.
I'm glad the neighbors noticed the smell and called it in, too bad it didn't happen sooner. I hope the snakes being adopted out find a good home!
Christopher, did the article you were referring to say anything about what changed the trend "morph" popularity? I feel like having a unique color or pattern on your snake would never go out of style.
Shannon- It all has to do with money. People just don't have the money to spend to buy expensive snakes just because they are a cool color. I was at a reptile trade show a few years ago(my aunt used to own a pet store) and I saw snakes that were over a couple thousand dollars.
Really Chris? That's one expensive pet! I guess the economy has been effected in a more ways than I had imagined. I wonder whether or not the teacher in the article above had been making good money on the snakes he was selling, it seems that someone with any business sense wouldn't let that many die of abuse.
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