Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was flipping through the channels and I stopped on animal planet for a second because it was that show "animal cops detroit" (basically it's like "cops", but with the michigan humane society), and I saw that they were holding what appeared to be a box turtle of some type. I don't know a lot about turtles and which ones look like what, but this had the tall shell and it didn't appear to have webbed feet or any other adaptations to water. So what do they do with it? They put it in a rubbermaid container with an inch or two of water, and nothing but a rock to climb out on (I think). They said they'd need to relocate them (there was a small american alligator too...he didn't even have a rock to get out of the water onto), but I mean come on... don't try to care for something if you don't know how to. If you're not sure what the needs of the animal are, you should call up someone who knows, or at least just look at a caresheet or something.

just remember that the TV show can only show a tiny slice of the work they do. I would tend to think that you saw a "first line" of helping get the animal care; that later someone with herp exp. was called and took over for them.
and that for the most part most animal control work is dogs, cats and other common pets.

not to excuse any lack of care.... just put that 2-5 minutes of video into perspective with the hours of work they do with the horrible cases where they have to take like 20-30 cats out of a house for example.
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The tortoise ended up at a museum for educating animals, and yes...he was a box tort. (cute lil' bugger) at least they all had a happy ending!

Marilee
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0.2 Bearded Dragons (Dezirae & Artimis)
0.2 Dogs (Timex & Brady)
1.0 Sulcata (Speedy)
1.1 Hamsters
1.2 Horses (Joey, Joi & Crystal)
0.2 Beta Fish

yeah, they always tend to have a happy ending (if they're in good condition). I just find it amazing that they don't have even a basic knowledge of the animals they're taking in...even if they're only taking them in for a couple hours or something.

There was one episode where they got called to a house, where the person had a 12ft burmese python they "didn't want anymore"...they just stuck it in one of those large dog carriers and put it in the truck. They quickly found a new home for it, but it seems that they don't do much as far as enviroment when it comes to transporting or holding the animals...much like a petshop, but with better care.

Chris
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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleon-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boa-Xena
0.1.0 Green Anaconda-Lola
1.1.0 Bearded Dragons (should have my flameXblood from fire and ice and one other soon)

As a former resident of Detroit, IM gonna share a bit of info. the shelters in Detroit are not equipped to handle large snakes, turtles or any other reptiles. This is due to the fact that Detroit has a law against owning exotics within the city limits. This is a rare occurrence that they do retrieve large snakes or reptiles, and they ALWAYS do their best to provide a good habitat and relocate them to a better equipped shelter, mostly to surrounding cities who deal with exotics more, or rescues. That snake probably spent less then 24hrs within shelter.

i hope i helped to clear some things up.
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0.1.0 Yellow/German Giant Beardie (Helga)
1.0.0 Chris Allen red x Red flame bearded
0.1.0 Orange x Redflame bearded (Stevie)
0.1.0 Flaming tiger x Pastel
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtles (Radar)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.1.0 Adopted Beardie (Sissy)
0.1.0 Rescued Beardie missing limb (Lefty) Being taken in by the mid-michigan reptile rescue.

Too many leos to count.....

I thought I heard on one of their episodes that exotics were banned in detroit. i guess I can just mark that off of possible places of residency. Here in New York it isn't going to well either though. On January 1st a law is going in affect that will prohibit purchasing or breeding of large constrictors and large monitors. If you already have an animal (or animals), you can get a permit, as long as you don't breed the animal and you don't aquire more. They are also banning a lot of other animals, but I agree they should be banned (venomous snakes, large predatory cats, non-domesticated canines, bears, monkeys/apes).

I just think it's a shame that just because some people don't know how to properly take care of large constrictors and large monitors, no one can now. I know there are a lot of people out there who are very passionate about large snakes and/or large monitors...so much so that I know quite a few are going to be moving out of state when this law goes into affect.

But anyways, I'm starting to remember this episode of detroit animal cops. There was a drug bust and the "reptile guy" (has a goatie, a little on the husky side) was sent in to get the exotics out. I think there was like 2-3 baby american alligators (or possibly caiman), 2 turtles, a burmese python, a ball python, 3 iguanas, and a scorpion. I think that's about it. All that I can remember at least. But from how he had it all setup, I could tell he listened to petco/petsmart a little too much. The alligators and turtles were sharing a 90-125 gallon tank with I think a red heat lamp and some flourescents. Then, the burmese python and the ball python (that were housed together) had what looked like only heat rocks for heating, and maybe some flourescents. The iguanas just had heat rocks and fake plants. Oh, and I think there was a scorpion. Anyways, what I mean is the whole thing was just basically run by hot rocks. I'm surprised he wasn't using them to heat the whole freaking house. There must have been at least 3 or 4 in each cage.

I agree that some bans should be put in place. But Cappuchin(sp?) monkeys are used almost like guide dogs, but do more and regular people(pretty much) raise them so they get used to people. Of course that's like how people wth guide dogs can take them places that dogs aren't allowed usually, so even if a ban was put in place on monkeys they would probably be legal.
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1.0 Bearded Dragons Spike
2.1 Cats Bilbo, Bud, Cleo

Matt

We have been working closely with the Michigan Humane Society for about 2 years now. As a herp rescue they will call us to pick up any reptile that they consider "inappropriate" as a pet. This list includes Burmese Pythons, crocodilians, poorly socialized Green Iguanas, large Boas, and some native species. Their officers are not well equipped for handling reptiles but they do the best they can with what they have to work with. The same goes for the wildlife division that houses these animals until they can be placed. They don't have proper caging but do quite well with what they do have until we can get down there to pick the animals up. The staff is always open to suggestions and strive to care for the animals to the best of their abilities.

We filmed a short follow-up with Animal Planet that aired on December 2nd...showing what happens with some of the animals that are confiscated (these particular animals were confiscated in a drug raid) or surrendered. We were only on air for about 4 minutes but I hope we got some points across that we thought were important. If you'd like to watch for replays the name of the episode was "Wounded by Wire".

HEY!
i emailed you guys a couple of times. I was jus wondering how my baby is doin :-D Im really missing having her arround. She being good for you guys?
jus checking in.
thanks again!
patrick
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0.1.0 Yellow/German Giant Beardie (Helga)
1.0.0 Chris Allen red x Red flame bearded
0.1.0 Orange x Redflame bearded (Stevie)
0.1.0 Flaming tiger x Pastel
1.0.0 15 year old Eastern Box Turtles (Radar)
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk (Leroy, I know shes a girl!)
0.1.0 Adopted Beardie (Sissy)
0.1.0 Rescued Beardie missing limb (Lefty) Being taken in by the mid-michigan reptile rescue.

Too many leos to count.....

I haven't seen this show but as an investigator with the Dep't of Environment, I am going to have to jump to the defence of the "Animal Cops". How can each employee know everything there is to know about every animal that walks, swims, or flies on the face of this planet? In some instances decisions have to be made with little preparation and or knowledge until someone can be contacted for expert advice. It appears that this advice was sought and the story finished with a happy ending. In other cases there may be not a single person on staff that has any knowledge about a certain subject. I guess all I am asking is that lets not be so quick to jump all over people. In most cases it is not very productive anyway. In what way is this post helping the situation? If you see something that might not be right it is far more honorable to offer assistance. Maybe they are looking for volunteers and you sound like a good candidate. I am sure that the "Animal Cops" there do their job to the best of their ability and lets not forget the limited funds the public service gets to actually accomplish their goals. Maybe the "turtle expert" just got laid off due to cut backs because the gov't you voted for promised lower taxes and is now slashing budgets. Most of us in this type of position get into this business for one reason... to help. It certainly isn't for the money, cuz I used to make a lot more working for the polluter !!! Just my $0.02 worth. Cheers.