Reptile & Amphibian Forums

{Wes Comment: Another - all guilty by association' item ...}

Video link at URL below
KOB-TV (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 29 June 10 Family living with more than 50 snakes (Joe Vigil)
A shocking discovery is made in a Northeast Albuquerque apartment complex.
City officials say three kids, ages 8, 6 and 2, along with their mother, were found on Monday living with more than 50 live snakes and some lizards.
A police nuisance abatement order indicates the discovery was made at a unit at the Las Kivas Apartments on Tramway near Montgomery.
A city public safety spokesperson called the conditions "deplorable," saying there was pet feces and urine all over the apartment. He also says the people inside were hoarders making it difficult for investigators to move around.
Animal Welfare officials say the snakes were being bred to be sold and were found in boxes.
Cages of mice and rats were also found in the apartment. Animal welfare officials say they were being used to feed the snakes.
CYFD investigators made the discovery after one of the children showed up at school smelling of urine. CYFD then checked out the apartment and found the animals.
City officials say the mother is charged with child abuse. The children are now staying with relatives.
Family living with more than 50 snakes

Wes,

Thanks...Another example of the AR media storyline...So rather than treat this as an individual instance of people doing the wrong thing, it'll be just another brick in the wall to ban it for everyone...

I suppose it's just too much trouble to show folks doing the right thing...But that would be bad for the storyline.
Geeze...

Later,
Jim.
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CSRAJim

OCD -- blame the snakes of course. Could have been dogs. Could have been cats. Could be anything that comes into the house never leaves the house. Snakes just makes for a better headline to catch reader's attention.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

...yep...thats the way of the world these days if had've been cats or dogs it probably would'nt even have made the paper...

I'm just glad to know that these children are now safe from the dangerous, and ever abusive exposure to ball pythons...

Call ma a skeptic, but I'm sure this timly and well placed article couldn't hurt New Mexico's current initiative to virtually and for all practical purposes ban private ownership of reptiles in the state.
Cynical John.
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

John,

A tragedy is a terrible opportunity to waste...

I like the way you're thinking man! Right on! Right on!

Later,
Jim.
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CSRAJim

Remember the good old days when newspapers ran articles about how interesting it was that people keept exotic snakes and we were mostly shown in a positive light
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"We don't inherate the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children"

Video link at URL below

KOAT (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 29 June 10 72 Snakes Found In Apartment
Albuquerque, N.M.: A team from the city's Criminal Nuisance Abatement Unit has red-tagged the apartment where officials have found 72 live snakes, at last count.
Animal welfare officials said they spent Monday afternoon at the Las Kivas Apartments on Tramway Boulevard, where they seized several reptiles and numerous snakes -- most of them boa constrictors.
Tuesday, the Criminal Nuisance Abatement Unit continued its inspection of the property.
Pictures taken by the unit of inside the apartment show crowded conditions, with holes in the floors and walls.
Criminal Nuisance Abatement Unit members said the odor was significant as they entered the property.
"It was piled high, full of trash, feces," said unit member Vivian Gonzales.
The living space was shared by 72 live snakes at last count, as well as other reptiles, officials said. Officials had seized 50 snakes Monday, but have since found more in the apartment.
The reptiles are being held at the Westside Animal Shelter, where officials are looking for people to foster them.
There were also other animals in the apartment, both alive and dead.
"There were also deceased snakes that were merely thrown into a tub," said Lt. Jay Gilhooly of the Criminal Nuisance Abatement Unit. "A number of dead rats, mice, that we would assume would normally be used to feed the snakes."
Three children, ages 8, 6 and 2, also lived in the home. The children were sent to live with their grandparents.
"The oldest child no longer slept in her bedroom, which is upstairs, because of the trash, the feces and the snakes," said Vivian Gonzales with the Criminal Nuisance Abatement Unit. "I don't even know how they crawled around, ran around the house and played."
Officials said someone noticed a strong scent on one of the kids at school. The school then called New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, "to ensure that they were in good health and that they were properly cleaned up, for their safety," said Gilhooly.
Detectives said they've seen houses in bad shape before, but nothing quite like this.
"One of the worst that my detectives or inspectors have seen, in their years of experience with working with these kinds of properties," said Gilhooly.
City officials said it's now the responsibility of the apartment complex to clean up the apartment unit.
Police did not arrest the children's mother, but she was charged with misdemeanor child abuse.
72 Snakes Found In Apartment