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THE FREE PRESS (Detroit, Michigan) 21 September 07 Police find 64 poisonous snakes in house in Wayne (Ben Schmitt)
No snakes on a plane: Snakes in the city of Wayne instead.
Sixty-four snakes to be exact.
Wayne Police found the snakes, 60 rattlesnakes, three copperheads and a cobra, in a man's basement earlier this week after one of the poisonous reptiles bit him.
A hospital alerted police, who searched his basement and rounded up all 64 snakes with the help of a local pet store employee.
With the help of the Michigan Humane Society, all the snakes, sans the cobra, are going to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in a few weeks.
They're currently being housed at an undisclosed location.
"It's a good day, they got saved," Jan Cantle, a humane society spokeswoman said today. "It's a great outcome and we're delighted that they'll have the opportunity to live in a more appropriate environment."
The owner, whose name was not released, will be allowed to keep the cobra because he told police it's venom sacks have been removed.
"We're giving him a chance to prove it or the cobra will also be removed," said Sgt. Daryl Rize.
Rize said police will not charge the man with a crime.
"He was so cooperative that we did not charge him," he said.
Police find 64 poisonous snakes in house in Wayne

WAYNE EAGLE (Indiana) 21 September 07 Police take 63 poisonous snakes from Wayne home (Scott Spielman)
A resident’s trip to the hospital resulted in a strange discovery in the City of Wayne this week.
Police took 63 snakes from a home near Glenwood and Newburgh roads after the homeowner went to Oakwood Hospital to seek treatment for a rattlesnake bite.
“It was the fourth time he’d been bitten,” said Sgt. Daryl Rize of the Wayne Police Department. “He had been in the process of feeding the snake.”
The homeowner was dangling a mouse from a pair of forceps in the cage, according to Rize. The snake lunged for it but caught the man on the hand, instead.
Staff at the hospital first alerted Westland police, who determined the man lived in Wayne. When animal control officers arrived, they found 60 rattlesnakes, three copperheads and one cobra—which had been devenomed, according to Rize.
They confiscated the snakes. They’re being housed temporarily at the Wayne Animal Shelter, but will be transferred to another holding center in Lansing better equipped to deal with the dangerous reptiles. Rize said the department has been working with the Michigan Humane Society and has found a location in Kentucky that will accept all of the snakes.
He said the couple that own the home didn’t know the city had an ordinance prohibiting the possession of dangerous snakes.
“They looked into it before they moved into the city and at the time we did not have an ordinance against dangerous snakes,” Rize said. “Two months after they moved in, the city enacted the ordinance.”
The homeowner is recovering from his bite. Rize said that’s probably the worst thing they’ll have to face through the issue.
“They were very cooperative with this,” Rize said. “We’re not going to charge them with anything on this. Their penalty is that they’re going to lose the snakes.”
Police take 63 poisonous snakes from Wayne home

Is this not a new precedent in that a venomoid cobra is being accepted as such by law enforcement? I thought the law generally did not distinguish between hot and venomoid for keepers and considered venomoids to be still hot on the legal level. I can't help but think this will encourage venomoiders.

I guess it depends on who is handling the case. New York State doesn't care. A cobra is "inherently dangerous" regardless of how it is modified.

It's not a question of New York "not caring" - a venomoid can certainly be considered (and should be) a potentially dangerous animal particularly if it's used in a breeding program as the young will be fully armed and loaded. As far as the Michigan case goes, there are several agencies involved in this matter and it's my hope that none of the animals have to be put down.

Rob Carmichael
Wildlife Discovery Center

>>I guess it depends on who is handling the case. New York State doesn't care. A cobra is "inherently dangerous" regardless of how it is modified.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Rob,
I thought the above post said the snakes would be moved to Kentucky. So, the snakes would be saved.
I assume that's Jim's place.

Randal Berry

Thankfully, it's looking pretty good that most will be placed in good homes such as Jim's but only time will tell what kind of condition they are in.

>>Rob,
>>I thought the above post said the snakes would be moved to Kentucky. So, the snakes would be saved.
>>I assume that's Jim's place.
>>
>>Randal Berry
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Rob, I think he meant that NY doesn't care if it's a venomoid.
A cobra is a cobra in NY, regardless if it's been devenomized, and still requires a permit.

That makes more sense....thanks.

>>Rob, I think he meant that NY doesn't care if it's a venomoid.
>>A cobra is a cobra in NY, regardless if it's been devenomized, and still requires a permit.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Yes, thank you for clarifying my post. I used "care" too liberally.

As far as the laws are written, it makes no difference in NYS at least if it is a venomoid or not. I really think this is the way it should be. You should legally possess the animal and not an animal modified by surgery.

I also often use the argument of breeding two venomoids. Another big one is the possible escape of a venomoid. A loose cobra in the eyes of police, etc, is a loose cobra. People don't know that it is venomoid.

Honestly, I don't think they had the idea of breeding two venomoids together in mind... The laws were written before venomoids became a trend. However, that's the way it is enforced and I happen to agree with this stance.