KATU (Portland, Oregon) 15 January 10 Snake, alligator seizure: What happens now? (Dan Tilkin)

Vancouver, Wash.: Dozens of snakes, most of them poisonous, that were found sharing the basement of a Vancouver home with an alligator were seized on Thursday, raising questions of what the folks were doing with them and what will happen now.

It all started when police showed up at a home in the 800 block of East 32nd Street to serve a search warrant after they got a tip about illegal snakes in the home.

Once they got there, they found dozens of venomous snakes and a 4-foot alligator in the basement.

All of the hissing and rattling left some officers so unnerved that they refused to go in and Clark County Animal Control was called to help out. READ THE STORY

The snake owner's wife, who spoke to us off camera, said her husband has had pets like this for years and all were well cared for. But it is against state law in Washington to own dangerous pets like venomous snakes and alligators - at least it has been since July. That's when lawmakers changed the rules to say this:

A person shall not own, possess, keep, harbor, bring into the state or have custody or control of a potentially dangerous wild animal, except if they owned it prior to July 22, 2007, they can keep possession of the animal for the remainder of the animal's life. - Washington RCW 16.30.030

But the city attorney says Vancouver city code requires a permit for animals like this. The owners did not have any permits.

The snake owner's wife said her husband knew the law had changed and he made a poor choice to keep the snakes and alligator in their home.

She is now concerned for her children and whether people will think they are bad neighbors. She said one bad decision doesn't mean they are bad people.

Police said the snakes and alligator were well cared for and that the owner used to work with these kind of reptiles professionally, even making the cages himself in his garage.

The city attorney said they usually make a decision on whether to charge someone within 30 days.

Meanwhile, the snakes and alligator were taken away. The non-venomous snakes ended up at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington and the other snakes and the alligator were taken to a reptile facility in Oregon.
Snake, alligator seizure: What happens now?

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