Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now I am not the best qualified writer out there, but we really need to come together on this issue - THE REWARD for information leading to the ARREST & CONVICTION of the people responsible for the theft of the ball pythons at Jeff Houston’s house.

I have been talking to Jeff since yesterday about the theft. We propose to raise a large sum of money to offer a reward. By offering a large reward we have a better chance of getting someone to offer information. That is what we need right now, information. Our plan is to let the authorities know on Monday what we have pledged to a reward fund. I want to get at least 50K by Monday evening. Money talks and we are hoping that a good reward will help to loosen some lips. The plan is to get the word out everywhere we can about the reward. We will call the local news in Anaheim, newspapers etc., to get the word out. If we can get it printed as a news story in the papers around where he lives we have a good chance of someone knowing something. Pet stores all around the town will also be notified. So that is what we have in mind.

Here is how we propose we go about this at this time. We really want to get everyone involved. This is a great opportunity for the industry to really come together and show our support for what we all do and love. Nothing would please us more than to capture those who are responsible. Remember this could have happened to you and it will happen again to someone. We need to show people that as an industry we are not going to stand by and just watch. WE CARE and we want to help.

To that end here is the plan. Please email me with your support. We are looking for a commitment of cash. What we need is for you to pledge that you will donate x amount of dollars to the REWARD fund for information leading to the ARREST & CONVICTION of those who are guilty. The authorities will know about this reward and they will determine if the reward is to be awarded. So please let the word out about this endeavor. WE DO NOT WANT YOUR MONEY NOW, just a pledge of the amount that you will give. Remember this is for ARREST & CONVICTION. Please email me your name, or business name, phone number etc., and the amount you wish to pledge and we will get the fund growing. Let’s see how many pledges we can collect by Monday. Also I am going to have a web page made ASAP to list those donating to the cause. There will be a total pledged dollars shown on the site. So show your support. We will have link to it for you tomorrow.

Also if you know of any businesses that can help donate please let them know as well. Tell everyone. Anyone that sells reptiles and reptile related products should be in on this endeavor. Donate as much as you can really afford, because if it does work out you will need to pay it. If you have any more suggestions please email me. Thank you for your support.

Dan & Colette Sutherland
info@ballpython.com

Are you looking for donations?
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RicK @ BbI

Ball Boutique,Inc.
The home of the singing snakes!

Did you read the post?

It's pretty clear.

>>Are you looking for donations?
>>-----
>>RicK @ BbI
>>
>> Ball Boutique,Inc.
>>The home of the singing snakes!
>>
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- Joel Smith

Email Me!

Sure
Who/what/how/do I commit too?
An email /a pledge/ What is the account I commit too?
Donations could be sent but to whom? Commitment to what account?
I want to help but I was looking for more info provided.
simple - WHAT BANK WILL BE SET UP/UNDER WHAT NAME ETC.
Sorry ~ looking for more info.
How much you putting up?

too vague?
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RicK @ BbI

Ball Boutique,Inc.
The home of the singing snakes!

info@ballpython.com

What does it matter how much I am gonna give? I'll give as much as I CAN afford.

>>Sure
>>Who/what/how/do I commit too?
>>An email /a pledge/ What is the account I commit too?
>>Donations could be sent but to whom? Commitment to what account?
>>I want to help but I was looking for more info provided.
>>simple - WHAT BANK WILL BE SET UP/UNDER WHAT NAME ETC.
>>Sorry ~ looking for more info.
>>How much you putting up?
>>
>>too vague?
>>-----
>>RicK @ BbI
>>
>> Ball Boutique,Inc.
>>The home of the singing snakes!
>>
-----
- Joel Smith

Email Me!

Let me first say how grateful my wife and I are for all the support we have received. We have been flooded with emails and calls, as well as the show of support on this forum. We have had people offer to give us snakes, sell us replacement animals for as little as half normal price, offer to do breeding loans with the females we still have, the list goes on.
When I came home from work yesterday evening it was like a punch in the gut. As some of you know, my wife had a miscarriage last Thursday and had been home resting since. She returned to work on Wednesday and the very next day we were robbed. This had already been a very painful week for our family. I am happy though that we are all safe and that my wife was not home during the break in.
When this happened, I had assumed my opportunity in the reptile industry was over. We had invested all of our savings/retirement on these snakes and had yet to receive any return. We had hoped to have a good breeding year in 2004.
Through the generous out pouring of support from the reptile community we hope to continue our dreams of producing some of the most beautiful reptiles known, Ball Pythons.
This kind of crime can’t be tolerated. If it happened here, it could happen anywhere. Snakes are a difficult piece of property to track. Once stolen there are many, many ways the thief can profit from them. To compound matters, law enforcement does not have the resources needed to properly investigate these crimes. As most of you know, insurance companies WILL NOT cover reptile losses.
I hope that a strong financial reward will bring people forward. I would like to think that morals would be all that is needed but unfortunately it is cash that drives many people. In addition, I think we have a much better chance of getting news coverage if there is a country-wide outrage. (backed up with some pledges for cash) If there is a significant reward offered by the people of this industry I believe we can really get some attention on this case. There are people who know about this crime, many of whom are probably not even into reptiles. This person has friends, roommates, parents, neighbors, etc. If we can get the word out to all the surrounding communities, I think we might be able to find someone with enough integrity to come forward.
This story can have a lot of human interest as well. The rest of the population looks down on reptiles and seeks to make laws against them. We have an opportunity to put a human face to this hobby, and to let people know we are loving, caring and responsible members of society.
Again, thank you all so much for all your support. It has made all the difference in this very difficult time. I hope I can get my snakes back, hatch some beautiful babies and treat you all to a big party in Daytona!
A special thanks to Dan and Colette Sutherland for organizing this and using space on their web site. My wife and I will be grateful for everyone’s effort, whatever the outcome.
Thank you,
Jeff & Rachel Houston

You guys are doing great, but get as many pics of all the stolen snakes up on the net and anywhere else you can.

Have all the nice people who have volunteered to help add the pics to their websites (BallBoutique, Jarred Horenstein, BallPython.com etc). The more pics that are out there of the exact snakes, the more chance of someone recognizing it.

For each snake, point out certain dots, patterns, markings etc which will uniquely identify those snakes.

Post on Kingsnake.com, RD's forum, kingsnake.ca , www.[bleep], and as many others as possible.

Just make it so that any body any where who like BP's knows what the stolen ones look like.

Joel
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2.3 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Pythons
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake

Count us in!

We've spoken with Markus Jayne, and we will pledge towards the reward as well. All the best and good luck.

Hiss and Hers Pythons

count me in too, $50 from my college kid pocket , i wish i could help more

best of luck with finding all of your little ones, i can't imagine how heartbroken you must be.
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~dana~

1.1 ball pythons (hailex and roxy)
1.0 cat (whiskers)
1.1 russian hamsters (peanut and tj)

Bryan Kollwitz
219 743 3337