DES MOINES REGISTER (Iowa) 09 June 06 Caiman gets loose, is shot to death
An alligator-like reptile was shot and killed Wednesday after it escaped from a Solon animal rescue shelter, officials in Johnson County said.
The 4-foot caiman was shot by a resident in the neighborhood, sheriff's deputy Sgt. Bill Rockafellow said.
Joe Wilkinson, a spokesman with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said a DNR wildlife technician also was at the scene.
"He was calling his supervisor to ask what to do. Before he could get an answer, one of the neighbors shot it," Wilkinson said.
Torben Platt, who runs the Witty Kitties shelter, said the caimans are kept in a plastic pool surrounded by a chain-link fence. "It's no danger to anybody," he said.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060609/NEWS08/606090373/1001/NEWS
PRESS-CITIZEN (Iowa City, Iowa) 09 June 06 Shelter owner: Caimans secure (Rob Daniel)
The owner of an animal shelter from where an escaped South American caiman -- an alligator-like reptile -- escaped Wednesday said he has reinforced the security of the reptiles' shelter.
Torben Platt runs the Witty Kitties Animal Shelter, 3133 Robert Ferry Road N.E. near Shueyville, with his wife, veterinarian Jennifer Doll. Torben Platt said he has bought a lock and put a chain around the gate that contains his remaining two caimans. The other one was shot and killed by a neighbor after it escaped.
Platt said he was not aware of the missing caiman until sheriff's deputies arrived at his home.
"I can't understand how it got out," Platt said, adding he found a fence pushed in last week. "I can guarantee this won't happen again unless it's by human efforts."
Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said Thursday that Richard Janecek, the man who shot and killed the caiman, told officers from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that the animal was on his property. Pulkrabek said Janecek acted in self-defense when the animal apparently attacked him.
"He stated that the animal acted aggressively, and he chose to destroy it," Pulkrabek said of Janecek.
Janecek declined to comment on the shooting.
The caiman is similar to an alligator but generally smaller and native to Central and South America. It is considered to be dangerous because of its carnivorous nature and its mouth full of sharp teeth, said F. Wayne King, curator of herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Fla. The caiman, like the crocodile and alligator, have simple pointed teeth that they use to grab its prey. They then roll around to twist the piece free, making it easier to swallow.
The caiman never grows to be bigger than seven feet long, King said.
"They never get big enough to become man eaters," he said. "They can bite the heck out of you. They've got a mouth full of teeth."
Witty Kitties is a licensed non-profit organization that has operated at its current location almost three miles outside of Shueyville since the winter of 2000.
Although Platt and Doll specialize in taking in cats with special needs and diseases, it also has two caimans along with 150 other animals, including llamas, emus, cats, pygmy goats and pigs.
The shelter has passed its last three annual inspections by the Iowa Department of Agriculture to maintain its license, said Dave Schmitt, acting state veterinarian. He said that enclosure, feeding and care of the animals all are part of the inspections, which are unannounced.
"They have to keep them in an adequate housing situation, namely in shelter, food and containment," he said.
Pulkrabek and Schmitt said there have been no complaints filed against Witty Kitties, and the caiman is not on the endangered species list in Iowa.
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060609/NEWS01/606090321/1079
