3 King Cobras, 300+ reptiles seized from NY home

https://www.abc15.com/news/national/...om-single-home

Another blemish on the hobby....

Oh geez! Not again...:( Another jerk to stain the image of responsible herpers.

Call me "closed-minded" but the LAST thing I want to see in the hands of an amateur is a king cobra, unless of course it's THREE of them!

Stupid owner was stupid. A move of just a few miles into PA and he'd have been legal.

Ugh.

They had a picture of a Cobra, but I want to see the picture of this moron in handcuffs.

So bad for the hobby!

Why don't they ever interview us responsible reptile owners who do not put ourselves, our animals, nature, or other people or animals at risk?

1/500,000 reptile owners does dumb stuff like this. Yes, many uniformed reptile keepers, who don't know what's best for their animals, but many try. We see it every day.

However, there are a ton of responsible breeders and reptile keepers who do what's best for all involved.

All the news talks about is the bad stuff, always. It doesn't matter what they are talking about; guns, traffic deaths, politics, etc. It's all extremes. It's always the .01% that are making life difficult for everyone else and giving good people a bad name. I hate it. I hate sensationalism.

I do research for a living. You cannot just look at one part of anything and you can no longer rely on one source (especially when people do not know the difference between news/facts and editorial/opinion, especially the "news" providers). You have to look at things in aggregate and look at the good and the bad in every situation.

I do not see any good that came out of this for anyone, especially our beloved hobby.

You always hear about only the negatives because it just confirms what most people already believe... that snakes are evil and are out to get you. (Chuckle)

Honestly, that's how I feel about most humans... oh, the irony.

It's always interesting to me how these private keepers who break the permitting laws and such get caught.

Anyways, poor animals are now displaced due to keeper irresponsiblity.

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Originally Posted by PiperPython

It's always interesting to me how these private keepers who break the permitting laws and such get caught.

Anyways, poor animals are now displaced due to keeper irresponsiblity.

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Right? How do they get caught? Are they showing the animals off? Flaunting them in social media? Beats me.

The article didsay local zoos had shown interest in taking the animals in. Hopefully they end up well cared for.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Right? How do they get caught? Are they showing the animals off? Flaunting them in social media? Beats me.

The article did say local zoos had shown interest in taking the animals in. Hopefully they end up well cared for.

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I think most do get caught by bragging either on social media or get over-heard by the "wrong" person. I'm just glad they do get caught, before the snakes escape.

I'm really glad to hear the animals have some willing & qualified adopters too...nothing sadder than authorities destroying such confiscations.

here is an article with a LOT more info and includes info on the person involved.

http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news...8db904a13.html

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Engelder, 70, a former biology teacher, served as a substitute teacher in biology and chemistry at Allegany-Limestone Central School District in 2013, school officials said. Allegany-Limestone Superintendent Tony Giannicchi noted on Friday, however, that his research showed Engelder had worked as a substitute in the school district for only one month. Giannicchi also noted he was uncertain which school districts Engelder had worked at in the past.

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I still have zero sympathy for him...."liking animals" is no excuse to be hoarding endangered & prohibited species. I hope these were at least well-cared for,
but I hope they throw the book at him...he certainly KNEW better.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I still have zero sympathy for him...."liking animals" is no excuse to be hoarding endangered & prohibited species. I hope these were at least well-cared for, but I hope they throw the book at him...he certainly KNEW better.

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you don't get to like the animals more than the laws protecting them. he is selfish and i agree, i hope he gets the book thrown at him.

tho, in a situation like this, i hope he doesn't do time behind bars. that won't help anyone. i hope he goes through some type of conservation course and gets a hefty fine, and also barred from owning any animals for X amount of time.

It makes me wonder. This guy was a teacher so that means it would have been fairly easy for him to get the permit to have them in new York.
While it does not excuse what he did, new York laws really do suck when it comes to a lot of things. While there is a way to get permits to own vemnous reptiles and the big pythons, its rare that they grant them. Even if the person has the skill an know how to take care of them.
For all that we know this guy has the skill an know how to correctly care for them and may have been taking very good care of them. But then again it's possible that he didn't know what he was doing either. But in the end what he did was still illegal and makes the hobby look bad.

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Originally Posted by fluffykitten

It makes me wonder. This guy was a teacher so that means it would have been fairly easy for him to get the permit to have them in new York.
While it does not excuse what he did, new York laws really do suck when it comes to a lot of things. While there is a way to get permits to own vemnous reptiles and the big pythons, its rare that they grant them. Even if the person has the skill an know how to take care of them.
For all that we know this guy has the skill an know how to correctly care for them and may have been taking very good care of them. But then again it's possible that he didn't know what he was doing either. But in the end what he did was still illegal and makes the hobby look bad.

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I've never applied, no interest in hots, nor am I qualified, but here in MA I think it's pretty difficult to get permits to keep hots. Even for teachers I'm guessing they'd have to jump through hoops. And I could be mistaken, but I don't think they can be kept in your home. I think they have to be kept at secure research facilities.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

Honestly, that's how I feel about most humans... oh, the irony.

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I can relate. People are scary! The subclass of "stupid" even more scary.