I have to wonder whether or not making accusations to the DEC that some of the animals are wild caught isn’t a bit over the top without anything to back this accusation up. Looking at the pics posted I can't see any critter that is on deaths door and in fact I find far worse conditioned critters in the wild at times. Besides dirty cages and some relatively thin specimens, I think the vet probably made a fair call.
Today I was contacted by this chap as he was looking at contacts to sell off his entire collection and hence I read this thread.
I asked this fellow why he fed his critters before going on holiday and he admitted it was a stupid mistake.
I asked him had he asked anyone to check on his collection while he was away and he admitted he didn't but foolishly thought that they would be okay as long as he provided water but no heat, thinking that they would sort of hibernate ( foolish considering he claimed to have fed them ). It sounds like this chap is highly upset and embarrassed over this but what I think is disturbing, is he mentions the constant hate e-mails and nasty texts constantly received by a few members here.
I suggested he mans up and replies to this thread, cop the criticism, explain himself and learn from this situation. I will point out that I actually know of this chap ( a friend of a friend of mine from Innisfail )but I didn't know about this incident with him until he rang us today.
It also sounds like the DEC were or are, considering charges but remember they will only proceed if their legal section thinks that there is any real chance of conviction. That would be difficult considering they would need a negative report from the vet I would think. The other thing is that the QLD wildlife act only allows for specific charges from which breach have to have occurred under such act. It could be that there isn't anything that neatly covers temporary dirty cages.
Personally I don’t think this chap would ever intentionally set out to cause his animals harm and in the past I believed he was a very passionate keeper so I am somewhat surprised that he has let this incident happen. One thing clear is it is certainly time for this chap to give up keeping I think. Becoming overwhelmed is poor excuse.
OK I have just a few words to say in response to this, then for me thats it.
Your first line is itself a bit over the top, I know that this person has taken snakes from the wild, he has told me hinself AND I have witnessed one instance where he had a snake bagged up in the car that he was taking out to re-release, possibly to spread diseases to wild populations from that cesspit.
Secondly you have only seen a handful of pictures, there are many many more and none of them give a true representation of seeing them first hand. The snakes were living in total filth and were severely underfed, the hatchlings were born in December and are still no larger than when they came out of the egg. I have seen a similiar aged snake that is 5 times their size. And besides the conditions of wild animals are irrelevant to this situation. Nothing more needs to be said on that obvious point. The vet had seen the snakes only after they had been cleaned and fed, she did not see them in the conditions that we saw them in. The vet told me that had she seen them in those conditions she would have ordered them to be removed immediately, but sadly she was constrained by only being able to report on what she saw first hand.
I dont believe this fellow fed these snakes before he went away. They were skinny as all frik and since we saw them only days after he left them and they DID NOT produce any scats in that time, and all the scats were very old and dry. The conditions they were kept in were unclean over a VERY long time, and in the time I have known him (since the start of this year) I know that he only fed the snakes ONCE!
In response his claims to have received hate mail from members here, since he hasnt been named and noone would know his email or phone number unless they were his friend (which I am embarrassed to admit I once was) I think thats dubious to say the least. I sent him a text a couple of days before he returned advising him of the action that I took in reporting him, to which he never replied, I called him a week later to speak with him about this and he insisted that he kept his snakes properly and saw no harm in what he had done before hanging up on me, and I finally sent him an email telling how I felt about him and his actions and included a link to this page so he could see that many other people considered his snake keeping appalling and cruel. Like I said nowhere has he been identified by Cameron or myself so I think this campaign of hatemail is imaginary and probably a diversion.
As for selling his collection, considering that he IS facing charges which could result in having his entire collection confiscated, I have to wonder about his motives for selling them now and whether or not there is an effort to recoup on an investment. From my discussions with the police officer involved the charges relate to failing to make provisions for animals under his care in his absence, not to 'temporary dirty cages' (besides which the word 'temporary' is redundant - this mess was long term!). The only thing that has saved him from prosecution under more serious cruelty charges is the farcical and incompetant handling of this case by Qld parks and wildlife, not to mention Camerons and my efforts to care for these snakes in his abscence. He owes us a debt of gratitude, but I doubt he has the insight to realise this.
The only good thing is that he does seem contrite for his actions and has finally realised (mostly due to the responses on here) that he cared for these animals poorly, and that the snakes may be rehomed to someone who will care for them properly. He claims to have been 'overwhelmed' and that this led to him loseing control of his husbandry, but it seems to me that he has always kept animals in that state and saw no harm in it and thought it was perfectly acceptable. Hopefully now he has realised the error of his ways he will never again subject any animal to that sort of treatment again, or so help me I will hunt him down.....
Enuff said!
Sean
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