KING (Seattle, Washington) 04 May 06 Unwanted reptiles end up in BC refuge (Saint Bryan)
There's a man who hasn't taken a day off in three years. At this rate, he says, his job will kill him probably either by suffocation or by being torn limb from limb.
Paul runs the Rainforest Reptile Refuge – a one-man operation just over the Canadian border.
It's home to 300 reptiles, including Terrazzo, a 24-foot python.
They fight by constriction and asphyxiation. They'll crush you. Every breath, it tightens up on you and it's not just squeezing, it's also twisting. It's like being wrung out like a dish cloth.
If Paul seems a bit morbid, consider this: He doesn't get to see a lot of people.
"One of the scariest aspects is being forced to work with man eaters on your own," said Paul. "There's such a thing as a spotter, but it's hard to have a spotter when there's nobody there."
Underfunded, but still functioning since 1986, the Rainforest Reptile Refuge has provided home to thousands of unwanted reptiles.
Imagine buying an animal with a 120-year life span, a predator coated with salmonella, or a bearded dragon – a species so endangered, its own country bans its capture. Somebody did and that's why they're there.
"Come and see what's in the community. See what's in your next-door-neighbor's house or basement because they're everywhere," said Paul.
Even in the Northwest, a caiman has been found in Seattle's Green Lake, another in Pierce County. An iguana was captured in a Bellevue parking lot, and an 18-foot python was found slithering around a British Columbia house with small children.
It really doesn't matter how big or small the animal is. It's the fact that it's a wild animal and that it's not a pet, that it will never befriend you, that it might bite you, and that it will escape at any opportunity.
And yet, the exotic pet trade responsible for capturing thousands of reptiles every year has grown into a billion-dollar industry because with the Internet, it only takes a few clicks to order your own.
With lax laws and little enforcement, these reptiles have all become easier to buy, but as hard as ever to keep.
Kittens grow up into cats, puppies grow up into dogs. But a juvenile caiman turn into big fat crocs and they do attack.
So, more so than ever before, Paul finds messages like this one on the refuge's answering machine:
"Got a bearded dragon. I just found I was allergic and I was wondering if you guys could take it."
"Everybody wants to bring their reptiles here… we're not huge, we can't take anymore. We already have one of everything you can find," said Paul.
In many cases, more than one - 7 bearded dragons, 24 iguanas, 20 caiman, more turtles than they can count.
"My question to the community is: Where is this going to end? What's it going to take for the laws to change? Is it going to take me to get killed by my 24-foot snake before somebody listens?" asked Paul.
That almost happened last year when Terrazzo attacked him in the pit, knocking him right through a door.
Paul admits there are days when it all seems overwhelming, but there are also moments that make it all worthwhile.
"As cold and scaly and nasty as they are, they are my family and they are my friends, and I love every one of these animals. I'm not about to back down from it," he said.
This is Paul's promise – a pledge to protect for years to come, unless he makes a mistake.
The Rainforest Reptile Refuge is open to the public. It's just over the Canadian border in Surrey, B.C.

http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/northwest/eveningmagazine/stories/NW_050406EMreptilerefugeKC.cd2a3bf.html