EAGLE TRIBUNE (North Andover, Massachusetts) 03 September 08 Python stolen from Plaistow pet store (Meghan Carey)
Plaistow, N.H.: A baby ball python is the latest animal to escape Zoo Creatures in the arms of thieves.
The exotic pet store and reptile distributor is often the target of animal-loving criminals, who have stolen everything from dogs to snakes to pet accessories.
This summer wasn't any different — with a middle-of-the-night disappearance of two rare tortoises and now a shoplifted snake.
On Friday evening, an employee reported the $150 snake had been stolen the day before, according to Sgt. Glenn Miller. Police are waiting to see surveillance video of a man who allegedly took the snake out of a holding tank and put it in his pocket, Miller said. The suspect then left with another man and a young girl.
It's not the first snake to slither out of the 149 Plaistow Road store without a receipt. Two former managers were indicted last year for stealing $29,000 worth of merchandise, including two granite-back reticulated pythons.
Another former employee was arrested in December after she and her boyfriend were caught on video tape stealing a Chihuahua from the store.
There is no footage, however, of the August tortoise theft because the animals were being kept in a cage outside for the summer. A hole was cut in the wire and the approximately 30- and 50-year-old tortoises were taken out.
Police don't have any leads in the case, but Zoo Creatures has new tortoises.
Josh Kelly, manager of the turtles, said two tortoises were donated to the store after news got out about the theft. The new additions, which are between 10 and 30 years old, are getting along well with the one tortoise the thieves left behind.
The tortoises are used for educational purposes, like school and summer camp demonstrations, Kelley said.
He's also gotten a lot of calls since the theft from people who have seen big turtles around, he said. One was from someone asking how much a Burmese mountain tortoise sells for. The caller hung up when an employee asked for his information, and Kelly said they traced his phone number and gave it to police.
As for the missing snake, it's one of thousands at the facility, according to Mike Cordeiro, manager of the snakes.
The ball python is named for its habit of curling up in a ball, he said. Since the stolen snake was just a few months old and about 12 inches long — they grow to 4 feet­­ — it was easy for the suspect to pick it up out of the holding tank and fit it in his pocket, Cordeiro said.
There were a few hundred snakes in that area of the store, he said. The rest are upstairs, where they are bred.
Cordeiro said he doesn't know why there are so many thefts at the store, but thinks it's "terrible."
"People, I'm sure, try it quite often because it's a busy store," he said.
Python stolen from Plaistow pet store