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THE COLUMBIAN (Vancouver, Washington) 14 January 10 Officials seize 40 snakes in raid - 34 of the serpents are venomous; 4-foot-long alligator also found in home (John Branton)
When Trisha Kraff first descended into the basement of a home in Vancouver’s Shumway neighborhood Thursday, she found herself in the presence of 40 caged serpents, the vast majority of them venomous.
Among the poisonous snakes found were puff adders and a rhinoceros viper — and rattlesnakes including red diamondback, albino, Hopi and Mojave varieties, officials said.
“It was a little unnerving,” Kraff, an officer with Clark County Animal Protection & Control, said later. “All of them were rattling and they were not happy to have us there.”
The discovery came late Thursday morning during a raid of a home at 815 E. 32nd St. by animal control officers, Vancouver police and wildlife agents. The officials had a court warrant to search the home for illegal snakes, Kraff said.
The 40 snakes, including 34 that are venomous, were found in cages affixed to the wall and looked well-fed and healthy, officials said. A biologist and trained snake handler helped transfer them from the cages into portable containers.
Officials took the poisonous snakes to a reptile rescue organization.
The half-dozen non-venomous snakes, including a reticulated python, were taken to the Humane Society for Southwest Washington on Northeast 192nd Avenue in far-east Vancouver.
Officials also found a reptile they described as an alligator, named Jake, that also was taken to the shelter.
The snakes’ owner, whom officers declined to identify, told them he keeps snakes as a hobby and has worked with snakes for 18 years.
The man was cooperative with officials during the raid, and surrendered ownership of the snakes to the county.
The man was not arrested, but officers said they plan to send their reports to prosecuting attorneys for possible charges of illegal snake and alligator possession, and possible permit violations.
Once the legalities are sorted out, officials may try to find homes for the snakes.
County records show the home is owned by Nelson B. Keliipio Jr., but it hadn’t been confirmed Thursday night that he owned the snakes.
On Thursday evening, a man inside the home waved away a Columbian reporter who knocked at the front door. After that, The Columbian was unable to reach the man by phone.
The outside of the ordinary-looking home appeared tidy, with a tether ball pole and small garden.
Officials said children live in the home where the snakes were kept, but officials were aware of no one being bitten. The snakes’ owner had taken precautions for the children’s safety, officials said.
Once the reptiles had been delivered to the shelter, and her paperwork gathered, Kraff said she’d never dealt with so many snakes and was done for the night. The reptiles had ranged from about six inches long to nearly five feet.
“I’ve got the venomous snakes out of my hair,” she said. “The rest of my day is a piece of cake.”
Officials seize 40 snakes in raid

KATU (Portland, Oregon) 15 January 10 Snake, alligator seizure: What happens now? (Dan Tilkin)
Vancouver, Wash.: Dozens of snakes, most of them poisonous, that were found sharing the basement of a Vancouver home with an alligator were seized on Thursday, raising questions of what the folks were doing with them and what will happen now.
It all started when police showed up at a home in the 800 block of East 32nd Street to serve a search warrant after they got a tip about illegal snakes in the home.
Once they got there, they found dozens of venomous snakes and a 4-foot alligator in the basement.
All of the hissing and rattling left some officers so unnerved that they refused to go in and Clark County Animal Control was called to help out. READ THE STORY
The snake owner's wife, who spoke to us off camera, said her husband has had pets like this for years and all were well cared for. But it is against state law in Washington to own dangerous pets like venomous snakes and alligators - at least it has been since July. That's when lawmakers changed the rules to say this:
A person shall not own, possess, keep, harbor, bring into the state or have custody or control of a potentially dangerous wild animal, except if they owned it prior to July 22, 2007, they can keep possession of the animal for the remainder of the animal's life. - Washington RCW 16.30.030
But the city attorney says Vancouver city code requires a permit for animals like this. The owners did not have any permits.
The snake owner's wife said her husband knew the law had changed and he made a poor choice to keep the snakes and alligator in their home.
She is now concerned for her children and whether people will think they are bad neighbors. She said one bad decision doesn't mean they are bad people.
Police said the snakes and alligator were well cared for and that the owner used to work with these kind of reptiles professionally, even making the cages himself in his garage.
The city attorney said they usually make a decision on whether to charge someone within 30 days.
Meanwhile, the snakes and alligator were taken away. The non-venomous snakes ended up at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington and the other snakes and the alligator were taken to a reptile facility in Oregon.
Snake, alligator seizure: What happens now?

Stories like this are the reason we all need to support USARK. Snakes in cages harming no one.

Being the only person who showed up representing HOT keepers (even though I owned none) when the law was voted into effect, I feel a limited amount of sympathy. If he indeed had the animals prior to the state law going into effect, all he needed to do was move into a county that had no venomous ban which is most of Washington. Anything pre-law was grandfathered in.

Support USARK and be active or you'll end up like this poor guy.

Doug T

>>THE COLUMBIAN (Vancouver, Washington) 14 January 10 Officials seize 40 snakes in raid - 34 of the serpents are venomous; 4-foot-long alligator also found in home (John Branton)
>>When Trisha Kraff first descended into the basement of a home in Vancouver’s Shumway neighborhood Thursday, she found herself in the presence of 40 caged serpents, the vast majority of them venomous.
>>Among the poisonous snakes found were puff adders and a rhinoceros viper — and rattlesnakes including red diamondback, albino, Hopi and Mojave varieties, officials said.
>>“It was a little unnerving,” Kraff, an officer with Clark County Animal Protection & Control, said later. “All of them were rattling and they were not happy to have us there.”
>>The discovery came late Thursday morning during a raid of a home at 815 E. 32nd St. by animal control officers, Vancouver police and wildlife agents. The officials had a court warrant to search the home for illegal snakes, Kraff said.
>>The 40 snakes, including 34 that are venomous, were found in cages affixed to the wall and looked well-fed and healthy, officials said. A biologist and trained snake handler helped transfer them from the cages into portable containers.
>>Officials took the poisonous snakes to a reptile rescue organization.
>>The half-dozen non-venomous snakes, including a reticulated python, were taken to the Humane Society for Southwest Washington on Northeast 192nd Avenue in far-east Vancouver.
>>Officials also found a reptile they described as an alligator, named Jake, that also was taken to the shelter.
>>The snakes’ owner, whom officers declined to identify, told them he keeps snakes as a hobby and has worked with snakes for 18 years.
>>The man was cooperative with officials during the raid, and surrendered ownership of the snakes to the county.
>>The man was not arrested, but officers said they plan to send their reports to prosecuting attorneys for possible charges of illegal snake and alligator possession, and possible permit violations.
>>Once the legalities are sorted out, officials may try to find homes for the snakes.
>>County records show the home is owned by Nelson B. Keliipio Jr., but it hadn’t been confirmed Thursday night that he owned the snakes.
>>On Thursday evening, a man inside the home waved away a Columbian reporter who knocked at the front door. After that, The Columbian was unable to reach the man by phone.
>>The outside of the ordinary-looking home appeared tidy, with a tether ball pole and small garden.
>>Officials said children live in the home where the snakes were kept, but officials were aware of no one being bitten. The snakes’ owner had taken precautions for the children’s safety, officials said.
>>Once the reptiles had been delivered to the shelter, and her paperwork gathered, Kraff said she’d never dealt with so many snakes and was done for the night. The reptiles had ranged from about six inches long to nearly five feet.
>>“I’ve got the venomous snakes out of my hair,” she said. “The rest of my day is a piece of cake.”
>>Officials seize 40 snakes in raid

I understand your feelings of limited sympathy for this person, just a little bit. Sure, he could have "just moved" (not that easy if he owned the house and couldn't sell it). But I am still enraged that a citizen who apparently had not been a problem to society up to the point the law changed, now has had his home violated and his property confiscated. Laws ought to exist to serve a particular purpose. What purpose does this law serve? To make reviled outlaws out of otherwise law-abiding, productive citizens?

Can you enlighten us, who brought the bill to the state legislature? In other places it has been the animal rights movement. A few times it has been in response to an incident (escape; bite; animal neglect case; etc) involving animal(s). Was there an incident in WA that provoked this legislation? Or was the AR movement once again successful?

Thanks,
Jimi

It was the AR movement. With 20/20 hindsight, we should have pushed for the law when it was first proposed. It would have made the state create a licensing system. We fought it and it later became the API copy and paste law. A hard to obtain license would be better than what we have now... blanket banning of hots.

I agree that the guy's stuff shouldn't be confiscated. In my perfect world he should be allowed to move them out. Especially since it seems he's been taking care to be safe and taking good care of the animals.

It doesn't matter which way you lean politically. Both sides want to intrude on your privacy and rights. They're just different in HOW they want to do it.

Doug T

>>I understand your feelings of limited sympathy for this person, just a little bit. Sure, he could have "just moved" (not that easy if he owned the house and couldn't sell it). But I am still enraged that a citizen who apparently had not been a problem to society up to the point the law changed, now has had his home violated and his property confiscated. Laws ought to exist to serve a particular purpose. What purpose does this law serve? To make reviled outlaws out of otherwise law-abiding, productive citizens?
>>
>>Can you enlighten us, who brought the bill to the state legislature? In other places it has been the animal rights movement. A few times it has been in response to an incident (escape; bite; animal neglect case; etc) involving animal(s). Was there an incident in WA that provoked this legislation? Or was the AR movement once again successful?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jimi

Thanks for the info. Yeah, 20/20 hurts. I hope those reading this from the diminishing pool of "wide-open" states take the lesson and petition for reasonable regulation, to forestall unreasonable regulation.

I'm hoping to see some good news in my state within the next 2 months. A blanket ban may be relaxed just a bit, with a permit system and access to a couple of the common native taxa.

If I may be so bold, I have a reading suggestion - A Tolerable Anarchy, by Jedediah Purdy. He's an Ivy League law prof; he writes about the tensions between liberty and order, through the lens of American history. It's not a "pop screed", rather an exceptionally-well researched and -presented exposition of our great experiment. At least take a look at some reviews - it's incredible.

Best,
Jimi