BATTLE CREEK THE ENQUIRER (Battel Creek, Michigan) 30 November 06 Snake experts testify in animal cruelty case (Trace Christenson)
Snakes seized from a Battle Creek home this summer were in good shape, a defense witness testified Wednesday.
"I didn't see anything wrong," said Mitch Brynes, owner of Diamond Reptile Breeders in Bushnell, Fla. "All the snakes were fat and healthy. None of those snakes were thin."
Brynes was the first witness called by Defense Attorney Richard Pattison in the trial of John Wilkinson, 55, of 182 Harris St. and his former wife, Cynthia Wilkinson, 52, of 178 Harris St.
Both are charged in Calhoun County District Court with animal cruelty after Battle Creek police said they found animals in both homes living in filthy conditions without adequate food or water.
Testimony before a six-person jury and District Judge Frank Line was adjourned until Friday when the trial is expected to conclude. If found guilty, the couple face maximum penalties of 93 days in jail.
Brynes, who said he has 1,000 snakes at his business, said he has known John Wilkinson for 10 years. He said he has sold him snakes and other animals and hired Wilkinson to raise some of his animals.
More than a dozen of the 20 to 30 snakes seized at the house on Aug. 2 belonged to Brynes, he said.
Looking at a series of photographs taken the day of the police raid, Brynes said the aquariums and cages appeared adequate in size and were clean. He said the snakes appeared to be healthy.
He disputed earlier testimony that the cages were too small.
"People think bigger is better," he said, "but they feel more secure in smaller areas. Bigger looks nicer, but it's not needed."
Brynes said the snakes also defecate as a way to mark their territory as soon as cages are cleaned, "and if the cages are too clean they will try to get away from their domain."
The testimony contradicted several prosecution witnesses called Tuesday and Wednesday by Assistant Prosecutor Sarah Lincoln.
James Harrison, director of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade, Ky., said several of the snakes were sent to his facility for care after they were taken from the Wilkinsons.
He said several had minor injuries and that some of the cages he saw were dirty, broken and too small for the snakes.
"I put my hand in one cage and you couldn't see my hand through the glass," he said.
And Sean Trimbach of Medway, Ohio, who took the snakes to Harrison, said "the cleanliness was atrocious. It didn't appear they had been cared for or cleaned them for a number of weeks."
Eric Tobin of Battle Creek, the president of the Michigan Association of Herpetologists, said he helped remove the animals from the homes and saw cages with fecal material and some without water.
"There had been considerable time without cleaning," he said.
Snake experts testify in animal cruelty case