Posted by:
EricWI
at Thu Sep 17 21:57:07 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by EricWI ]
(Branson West, MO) -- Venomous snakes, an alligator, even a hybrid wolf are all found living inside a Stone County house Thursday. That home is located in Reeds Spring near Friday Drive and Talking Rocks Road. It's been on the radar of investigators for more than a year, but what they found inside was worse than they imagined.
Inside the home were exotic monkeys, a wolf hybrid running loose, as well as a venomous cobra. But that wasn't the most disturbing find. "We had a small three year old girl inside the house living in there with them," said Stone County sheriff Richard Hill.
Outside the home, a 3 1/2 foot alligator living only in a portable dog crate. And inside a storage building adjacent to the home, several rattlesnakes, a cottonmouth, a deadly green viper. "We thought there would be some venomous snakes but certainly we've found a lot more than we thought we would," said Hill.
A veterinarian from the Dickerson Park Zoo says all the venomous snakes had to be euthanized because of a deadly virus that had spread throughout the building. "The snakes that are housed in the house at this moment in time we are planning on quarantining them," said Dr. Erica Wilson. "They all appear to be healthy and are well cared for."
Humane Society crews located several dead animals on the property. There were also at least 30 dead snakes bagged up inside a freezer. "There are going to be some animals left here in their care," said Jeff McRoy who is an animal cruelty investigator for the Humane Society of Missouri. "But then again we're going to monitor them closely. We're going to get them some recommendations, written recommendations that they're going to have to follow."
The girl's mother and the other man were arrested on suspected child endangerment and animal abuse. More charges could comes as authorities found drug paraphernalia and nearly a pound of marijuana in the home.
http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=187091
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 Missouri Home Containing Exotic Animals - EricWI, Thu Sep 17 21:57:07 2009
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