1000's exotics seized

[nixer]

SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!!!!

You all are being WAY too quick to judge based on facts provided by ONE of the parties involved!!!

Shame on you!!!!



Someone could bust into my house right now and write the following story:


Hundreds Of Animals Rescued From Importer. Many Animals Were Dead Or Dying.


SPCA officials confiscated hundreds of dead and dying animals from the residence behind me. Peta Officials alerted the Florida SPCA after receiving a tip. When officials arrived they found their worst nightmare. Hundreds of dead or dying exotic animals.

The home owned by Michael Cavanaugh had hundreds and hundreds of African imported rats kept in the garage. They were kept in small storage tubs piled on top of one another with wire tops. upon further inspection investigators were able to identify half eaten rat carcasses in some of the tubs because the rats are starving. The disease that could easily come from dead animals laying around is a real threat to humans. Like most rodents, these imported African rats are known carriers of lethal diseases, and are already banned in most states. One of the rescuers was bitten by a rat that he said acted as though it had rabies, and is undergoing tests at Shands Jacksonville and is said to be in stable condition. "All these rodents in these small tubs dying of starvation, dead rats laying around, this is all a toxic situation"

Mr. Cavanaugh had over 100 imported Giant snakes throughout the house mostly in tiny storage tubs. Animal specialists don't know how these Giant snakes of the Ball Python species could survive much longer in such small tubs where the animal had very little room to move around, and could not even see outside of the tub to have the benefit of sun light. "Inside the tubs were snakes that looked very skinny and were obviously dying" said the expert, who could clearly see their spine. "Their was no food source inside the tubs... just a bowl with an inch or two of water. The bottoms of the tubs were lined with newsprint that can be lethal to reptiles. Several of the tubs had feces and urates in them." "Keeping large snakes in such a confined space with feces is disgustingly cruel, and just a disaster waiting to happen. It's not IF it will happen but WHEN!" according to one peta official.

"We looked in one room where he had turned a modified cooler into a makeshift incubator. Inside were over 50 hatchling Ball Pythons (like the one that killed a girl in South Florida) each small tub had 5 to 10 hatchlings in it, and all looked on the verge of death skinny as if they have never been fed. Again, no food source in the tubs, just wet paper towels. And to top it all off, this incubator was in his 11 year old sons room!!!" said the Peta official.

He also had many other species of exotic reptiles including imported leopard geckos, crested geckos, cornsnakes, and even deadly poisonous coral snakes that he didn't even have the proper licenses to own!

One neighbor who didn't want her name listed said "we had no idea that there were thousands of animals suffering in that house. He seemed like a normal guy who kept to himself. I sure am glad they caught him. Certainly it was only a matter of time till one of those giant snakes escaped and killed someone like in South Florida last year" Another neighbor was quoted as saying "To know that he had a potentially deadly colony of these diseased African rats is just unbelievable. Shut him down NOW. To think there were children living in such unsanitary conditions is absolutely criminal. I know for a fact that one bite from one of those coral snakes and you are DEAD!


In case you didn't know:

* Any time you produce large numbers of ASF's, you will end up with some babies that just don't make it... Anytime an ASF dies, the other ASF's will begin to eat it, usually immediately. This has NOTHING to do with a lack of food. Obviously I will remove the carcass as soon as I see them, but often times it is eaten within just a few hours, only leaving a little bit of the hair behind. Also, it is quite common for especially newer moms to eat a few kids.

* When you have a hundred snakes, at any given time there will be a few tubs with poop and urates in it. Unfortunately there is no alarm that sounds the instant a snake poops.

* Most uneducated people consider the way most of us keep snakes to be inhumane...

* All non snake people, and most snake people, mistake my Arizona Mountain Kingsnake as a Coral Snake.

mike you got busted too?

[Mike Cavanaugh]

has there been anything new on this story?

[dr del]

Hi,

Theres a farily extensive thread about it on fauna with a link to the peta video entered into evidence.


dr del

[BPelizabeth]

Very extensive discussion on the BOI!!! And very hot!! Not in a positive "ooo ur cute" kind of way. As Dr. Del stated there is a very hard to watch video link toward the end of the thread. I don't want to condem anyone...because we clearly don't see all the facts and I am not a judge. And to me the two snakes they showed had IBD. Not the fault of the company. But there were several things in there that were very hard to swallow. While I understand that when you break down the dead animals it was less than 1 or 2%. I hope that wherever life takes me I don't ever quantify dead animals with a cost of doing business.

[CRAZY]

I know like 8 different people with Hedgehogs. Whats so surprising about those?

[CoolioTiffany]

500 of the reptiles came to PHS. We picked them up on Thursday and we loaded them all out today, so they are all in tubs now. The albino Burms were the nastiest things ever, they bit everything they could. Even themselves. The one I had put its tail in its mouth and wouldn't let go. The Ball pythons were probably the nicest ones out of the entire thing.

In two weeks I'm going to try to foster two Ball pythons and some other colubrids if I can, this situation was just so horrible to hear. I'm more than shocked.

[CoolioTiffany]

We also had to euthanize three snakes. Two Cook's Tree boas had a bad case of RI and had mouth rot, and I think one of the baby Red Tails had IBD.

[dr del]

Hi,

If you get confirmation the boa had IBD then I would really advise against trying to adopt any of the animals until you know they are clear.

At this point you are relying on good quarantine proceedures from everyone who has been taking care of the snakes - and that probably includes people who knew nothing about them or the diseases they could carry.

The last thing anyone wants is for your charity and kindness to lead to the death of your existing collection.


dr del

[Patrick Long]

I would not bring those snakes into my facility...let alone work with them, and return to my own collection.

[CoolioTiffany]

Hi,

If you get confirmation the boa had IBD then I would really advise against trying to adopt any of the animals until you know they are clear.

At this point you are relying on good quarantine proceedures from everyone who has been taking care of the snakes - and that probably includes people who knew nothing about them or the diseases they could carry.

The last thing anyone wants is for your charity and kindness to lead to the death of your existing collection.


dr del

I definitely have a room to quarantine the snakes in, but for the next two weeks all of the snakes will be watched to see if any of them have diseases and need to be treated. So I'm sure they'll give me the word of what they want to stay and what I can foster.

I'll also check over the snakes while I'm there just in case I notice anything, so if I notice anything odd I would be sure to not take it with me. There was one specific baby Ball that broke my heart, it was so skinny it looked to be a stick. That one may be sick, but I could always take it back if I notice anything or while I'm there and ask for treatment since it is their snake I am fostering for. I do know the precedures to take while these animals would be in my care (such as cleaning their enclosures last, feeding last, sanitizing the tongs, cleaning my hands after handling or dealing with them, etc.).