BROWNSVILLE HERALD (Texas) 17 July 05 Ordinances force snake handler off Island (Sergio Chapa)
Sean Palmer thought his venomous snake-dealing business would fit in perfectly with the rock-n-roll image of South Padre Island.
The 31-year-old Oklahoma native moved to the Island in August and nestled his shop among the tattoo parlors, bars and tie-dyed T-shirt shops of Padre Boulevard.
The Cobra Garden shop featured more than 20 exhibits of cobras, vipers and other venomous snakes and reptiles.
Palmer said he was finally realizing his dream of living near the beach and everything was going well at his shop and for his Internet-based business until he was bitten by one of his black mambas on Jan. 4.
The lifelong snake handler said he acted quickly to secure the animal and cut off circulation to his arm with a pressure bandage, but the bite from the highly venomous African snake sent him to the hospital for 36 hours.
“It felt like there was a quarter pressing down on my tongue and my lungs felt like balloons — they felt like they were being blown up,” Palmer said.
Palmer was fine, but he said the bite caused a stir among city leaders who he alleges are nervous about having venomous snakes on the Island.
Town leaders passed an ordinance on Feb. 16 that required venomous reptile dealers maintain proper facilities, provide monthly animal inventories, develop emergency plans, keep a stock of anti-venom, and hold a $1 million insurance policy.
Palmer said he had everything, but needed more time to get a license for the anti-venom to comply with a May 1 deadline.
The deadline passed and Palmer said he had still not received the license, but got a warning from town officials that he would be fined $2,000 per snake, per day if he couldn’t comply.
With an inventory of more than 100 snakes, Palmer said the warning prompted him to leave the Island and head for a duplex on Morrison Road outside of Brownsville.
“I had no problem with those conditions, but they wouldn’t let me comply,” Palmer said of the ordi-nance. “They wouldn’t give me the time I needed to comply.”
South Padre Island leaders deny Palmer’s claims and said that he is welcome on the Island, but he and anyone else would have to comply with the ordinance.
City Manager Dewey Cashwell said town leaders had never anticipated the problem and decided the ordinance would be more practical than an outright ban on venomous reptiles.
Colette Adams, herpetology curator for the Gladys Porter Zoo, said many cities across the nation have venomous animal bans while others keep them strictly regulated.
Brownsville Senior Animal Control Officer Laural Powell said venomous animals are banned within Brownsville’s city limits -- with an obvious exception for the zoo.
Adams said she provided South Padre Island officials with a list of recommendations that would allow responsible breeders and owners to keep venomous reptiles on the Island.
“We took the necessary and appropriate action to protect the public,” Cashwell said of South Padre Is-land’s ordinance. “The laws that are in effect are designed for the keeping of such creatures and not directed at him (Palmer).”
But Palmer contends he has lost thousands of dollars over the last five months and has been arrested multiple times for various misdemeanor charges related to protesting the ordinance.
Palmer tried to press federal charges against Island police for harassment in May, but was arrested by Brownsville police for animal cruelty because he left his dog in the bed of his truck in the FBI’s parking lot.
Cashwell said he has not been approached by the FBI and is not aware of any investigation against city officials.
Prosecutors dropped the animal cruelty charges against Palmer because they determined there was no criminal intent to leave his dog outside.
Palmer had reportedly asked FBI officials to let him bring in the dog in to the office, but they had de-nied his request.
Nonetheless, the arrest prompted Palmer’s parents to have him committed to a mental hospital for evaluation.
Palmer said he spent one day in a state hospital and was cleared of having any mental illness, but re-turned home to discover deputies searching his duplex based on allegations of animal cruelty.
Powell said an anonymous caller told city animal control officers that a large number of venomous snakes were unsecured inside the house next door to a family with children.
A Cameron County Sheriff’s Department report shows deputies referred the case to game wardens from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who cleared Palmer of any violations.
Palmer now lives with his animals at another home outside Brownsville and is still waiting for his anti-venom license so he can return to the Island.
In the meantime, he said he supports a federalized venomous reptile permit system and is working to rebuild his business.
“If you teach people to appreciate venomous snakes,” Palmer said, “you can teach them to appreciate all forms of wildlife.”
Ordinances force snake handler off Island