UPDATED: Disgusting case of neglect (pic heavy)

[Jen]

Are reptiles held in private homes under license considered wildlife? Is this also the case with other native animals held as pets?
(If they are I don't think I agree with that, and will still no longer be donating to the RSPCA when I know my money will be better donated elsewhere....)

 

[KaotikJezta]

i compleatly agree with the people on here saying its a joke no one was willing to act on the situation ie rspca, but unlike the way it has been portrayed here they do more than any of you are even willing to accept. They raise money to give out FREE desexing vouchers for the people who arnt fortunate enough to be able to afford them. They also have to deal with the drones of morons that come down there to surrender that cute puppy they got 12 month befor hand. Think about it befor you all going to town and try to destroy the RSPCA's name. I am in no doubt that less than 1% of all animal related neglect are conserning reptiles, with this said i in no way imply that they are less valued than any other animal. The rspca in your local are may be slack and may be usless, but they are not all run this way. My girlfriend works at the rspca in orange and i can tell you the local inspector in our area would be likley to hunt this bloke down on his holiday just to drag him back by his manhood. It is this reason that i go down there on a regular basis and take the dogs out for a run, give them something to lookforward to as apose to just sitting in a cage all day. ALSO FOR ALL OF YOU TO READ TWICE SO YOU DONT FORGET>>>>>> All money that is spent on your local rspca shelter is allocated by a public committe that does not work at the shelter. In other words, in most cases, its the sad old woman down the road from you that hates everyone and puts in a noise complaint cause you fart to loud for her to sleep at 7 30pm, that decides how much money is aloud to be spent and what its to be spent on. While all this is goin on the local branch here had no washing machine to wash bedding and was forced to wash blankets by hand. So next time your asked to comment on the rspca think about it, you dont blame the woman who works at the bank because your money hasnt cleared, so dont blame an organisation who has there hands bound, tied and locked from the inside.

I am not going to go into everything here but the people that work at the Sydney shelter on a whole don't care about the animals. I am not talking about the vets or the inspectors, I am talking about the staff who are generally untrained and see it as just a job. Two examples I will give, which are not even close to the worst of it: they had a woman that ran a section for dogs that supposedly couldn't be rehomed but were not destroyed. She got to choose which dogs went to this section. She lived in a unit so could not have a dog. So, she chose all the cute fluffy ones she could baby and pretend were hers. Sounds fine, except she only worked three days a week, these dogs had to live in cages seven days a week because she was too selfish to let them be released to the public for sale. This is about 30 odd perfectly healthy, loving dogs living there lives out in a prison. The other example is the section for dogs too vicious to be rehomed that they kept as guard dogs. No-one could go near these dogs as they were just too vicious. They lived there days out in cages, when their cages were cleaned out it was done with a high pressure hose while the dogs were still in them. They were released at night to guard the premises, then had to be 'recaught' the next morning and back to the cages. Could be just me, but I don't think either of these are very good examples of good animal welfare practices. I am sure there are a lot of good RSPCA outlets around as they are all pretty self sufficient depending on area but that shelter is not one of them.

 

[bigi]

I can understand the politics in it all and the correct protocol and direction you must take to get action.
Its a real shame people are not educated or trained in putting someone in the right direction for corrective action
imagine all the time you could have saved by being transfered to the correct government department.
I would take it further, go above their heads, ruffle some more feathers
but hey thats me, i dont care if i upset people along the way if i know it is right and proper
pat yourselves on the back and dont give up
good luck

 

[pharskie]

Without a doubt a huge pat on the back. It really looks like a huge task to try and provide for all of those wonderful creatures after so much neglect. Its just i got the vibe from this forum that alot of people have had bad experiences with the rspca, that said no one ever goes out of there way to inform the public when they got there dogs or cats desexed or had there dogs coat cut for summer for next to nothing. (and by nothing im talkin maybe $20.) It needs to be know know that i may not have out helped at rspca shelters around the country, but the one here where i have, i have to say does an outstanding job for the short leash they are given. Just out of intrest was WIRES contacted about this matter?

 

[Renenet]

This is in Townsville. I could be wrong but I don't think WIRES is in Queensland, just NSW.

 

[Chris]

Very sad thread.

 

[wokka]

Another very sad example of beaurocracy getting in the way of action where it is needed. I am sure the departments concerned have budgets of millions for their staff of thousands, but with all the shuffling of paper how much is actually helping animals ?

 

[starr9]

Im lost for words!! Who could do this to any animal! Id like to say im shocked that the RSPCA did not help but im not. Iv reported horses and cattle etc to them over the years that were in such shocking states and they did nothing. They did tell me that the costs were to high for them to charge ppl to the full extent they should of bn so they walked away with a $250 fine..... Under staffed, underfunded and lack of support from the law was the sentence told to me over and over again by them. Better laws need to be in place and acted on to stop this! You should put this on facebook and get the word out that this is not cool! we here all the time about puppy farms etc make more ppl see what is going on!!

Please let us know what happens!! I wish I could help in some way! Can we email/call someone somewhere to help you out?!?!! Any ideas anyone?!?!?!

 

[Dipcdame]

I'm lost for words ...... and were I to use any that have come to mind in the process of seeing and reading all of this thread, I would most definitely be thrown right out of the Forum permanently. I would, however, love to see the sad pathetic excuse of an owner treated in the same manner, and forced to live in the same conditions.

 

[albhp]

OMG what else can you say im a very passionate person when it comes to reptiles i would live and die for my herps . Im at present sitting her reading and wiping tears from my eyes im disgusted that any human could let any reptile live in such poor condition i applaud you cam and sean for the help you guys are trying to give to these poor un cared for snakes this honestly breaks my heart .Its even more heart wrenching to think that those whos job it is to save any animals from this sort of treatment just dont seem to care i know they would have a massive amount of work to do but you think that the reptiles in the pics would need help now not when you can get around to it .Im honestly heart broken at the thought of these snakes in that awful place just waiting to die cause thats what it comes down to . I dont know what to do or how to help being all the way down here in vic i feel a great saddness for these reptiles cause i just know that eventully these snakes that are just clinging to life will die and that is as disgusting as the manner in which these poor snakes live now cam an sean i know you have busy lives but please try and keep us updated good or bad news .To the low life that has created this problem what could i say apart from burn in hell you piece of human filth if there was any justice in the world i would one day run into this low life and his life would be done i would show the same contempt for you that you have shown for these snakes you have chosen to entrap there is no way i could say keep cause you dont keep them keep = caring and loving and giving them what they need you fail on every level .I hope cam and sean can save these poor guys from the hell they are enduring and they can have some remnents of a good life .
GOOD LUCK GUYS

cheers al

 

[Fantazmic]

Hi guys

just thinking of you here in freezing Melbourne and wondering if anyone in authority has done anything to help you yet ??

Regards

Elizabeth

 

[WomaPythons]

im sure cam will update you guys soon but parks have let him keep all the reptiles

 

[dragonlover1]

This is disgusting how could any supposed reptile lover treat animals this way

 

[damian83]

That's absolutely disgusting. I feel so sorry for those animals, I don't understand why someone would keep snakes that way. I hope that guy gets what's coming to him! Good on you for doing something about this, you no doubt saved the lives of these snakes.

i agree with you tahlia,
maybe they can share them out to us on aps when there all well (and clean) ....

 

[CamdeJong]

UPDATE

Hey everyone, I have nothing but disheartening news.

I wrote up a page or more the other day and tried to save it to the uni computer to finish after class, and lost the whole thing, so I'll keep it brief this time. If I can.

The owner of the snakes returned about a week ago and was immediately visited by QPWS, the Police Officers who are already involved and and vet with wildlife experience. It's now been about 7 weeks since we first contacted Parks and the owner was away for just over 7 weeks. The vet apparently gave all the snakes a thorough examination, and proceeded to give them a clean bill of health, declaring that they were "slightly underweight, and some of the enclosures a bit dirty, but otherwise ok." When I heard this I almost had a meltdown. First of all, the snakes I fed I only fed enough to be kept alive, and they would've barely put any weight on, and secondly we cleaned nearly all of the enclosures and tubs AT THE DIRECTION OF PARKS OFFICERS and with their word that it would not affect the outcome of the case as I'd provided them with exhaustive and detailed photo evidence which wasn't even shown to the funking vet!!! We even left a few enclosures dirty so they could see for themselves because they told me that they'd get around to see them and sort them out in what turned out to be a VERY LONG few days (closer to 4 weeks). Even with this in consideration I can't see how the vet made that decision. The 6 hatchlings should be at least 6 or 7 months old based on Jungle hatch times and are no more than 15g and 30cm long (which leads me to wonder, have they EVER been fed?) The larger snakes are emaciated - look at the smaller one in the first photo - and a lot of them are weak, not striking accurately and not gripping my hand at all. I might post some more pics soon, especially of the hatchies.

We spoke to QPWS' head of wildlife division and were even more disappointed. Between accusing us of making assumptions about their actions (which we later found to be true) and trying vigorously to defend Parks, we really got no useful information or reaction from him. He even went so far as to question why Sean didn't dob the owner in a few months ago when he first saw the snakes (Sean previously had no experience with snakes and didn't know how dire the situation was). That in itself was the worst part to us because Sean had no responsibility at that point, while they, the relevant authority, sat on this thing for WEEKS and only called the police to organise a raid when we send an email higher up. He told us that they'd called the police straight after we gave statements, but we asked the Police Officer involved and he said they went in the day after being called, a month or so after we acted. He accused Sean of having a vendetta against Parks and of making "conspiracy theories" and tried at every corner to take away our resolve at getting some good out of this case.

Parks officers told us that they've done everything as quickly as possible, but all evidence points otherwise. And basically all that's come out of this entire story is this: The owner has come home to clean, fed snakes, has been told by a vet that he's doing a good job, and Sean and I will be portrayed as the crazies who made a mountain out of a molehill while the relevant authority assures a minister that it's all sorted. The owner gets to keep all of the animals, including the ones that I believe are wild-caught, and may eventually be slapped on the wrist for not having left them in the care of someone while they were away.

We're feeling pretty beaten at this point.

I'm sorry I don't have better news,

Cam

 

[phantomreptiles]

I am so sorry cam, I hope karma gets this person!!!!!!! I am so sick of hearing and seeing crap like this :-( it makes people think why bother....as nothing is every bloody done! I have reported several people and nothing was ever done. According to qld law I can keep my animals in filth, leave my dog on a chain24/7 as long as I throw food to her, and as cam has just proven leave my reptiles alone for 7 weeks, hmm sure it would be a different story if it was a human baby.....

 

[Dan40D]

Really sucks Cam, agreed that i hope karma catches up to him.

 

[Chris1]

that really sucks, you guys put in such a huge effort,...just to get kicked in the nuts,...

what a crappy outcome.

im pretty sure the snakes at least would appreciate ur efforts,...(as do most of us on this forum)

 

[spyder6052]

that is a discusting response from parks and wildlife, i hope they read this thread and i really hope they feel ashamed at their actions or inactions to be exact...

 

[hugsta]

For future reference, take the animals and then tell the owner they all died, how they died is up to your imagination, after all 7 weeks is a long time.