UPDATED: Disgusting case of neglect (pic heavy)

[solar 17]

These reptiles are now housed in Brisbane and being fed and cared for with one in particular requiring some extra treatment but should make a full recovery.
.............solar 17 (Baden)...ps not at my place

 

[Bluetonguesblack]

Good work buddy !!

 

[Poggle]

Glad to see they are being looked after better. Was a shame to see them like that.

 

[Delicious_Psyko]

:shock: my god those poor things!

:evil: how unfair on them to treat them so badly... as someone currently doing research and on my way to owning my first snake i can't see how that person thought they were looking after them? if they were thinking at all! glad to hear that they are now being cared for and looked after thanks to the person who shared the story. makes me think very carefully about any future ownership. personally, no matter what the animal i believe they should be housed comfortably and looked after like any member of the family. they too need to be warm, fed, and clean too! all good things for me to keep in mind, and to serve as a warning.

thanks again

 

[bellbird]

I have no words.....just wanted to cry.... if it was me finding those animals i wouldnt have been able to help myself. I would have staged a break in and taken them home.

 

[Dan40D]

Thanks for the update, great outcome in the end, only better thing now would be a prosecution.

 

[captainamazin]

Hi my sister lives in townsville, let me know if you need a hand or equipment or anything. This guy is a creep!

 

[SeanK]

An update on this cruelty case;

Jake Broomhall pleaded guilty to 3 charges on Monday 26th March 2012 at the Townsville Magistrates Court. The 3 charges relate to animal neglect and failing to keep records. Mr Broomhall was fined a measly $1500 but has been banned from ever keeping wildlife again for life, so for me thats the justice here.

Mr Broomhall initially pleaded Not Guilty but changed his mind at the last moment when police prosecutions told him if he was convicted they would seek costs associated with flying witnesses in from around the country, around $10k, so sadly the guilty plea isnt a reflection that he has finally acknowledged his wrongdoing.

I also want to thank Cam for all his efforts here and also Seargent Mark Hogenelst of the Charters Towers Stock and Rural Crime Investigation Squad, without Mark's efforts this case would not have ever got to court as Parks really didnt give a toss about this case and in fact the judge directed a lot of criticism of them in his sentencing remarks...

Just shows you need to persevere sometimes to get things done. Was a hard slog for us but I dont regret it one bit!

Thanks

Sean

 

[Renenet]

As good an outcome as could be expected, I suppose. Good on you and Cam for looking after the critters and sticking it out.

Where are the snakes now? I seem to remember they were given to someone to look after, but did they ever move on from here?

 

[CamdeJong]

I'll back up what Sean said there, Mark Hogenelst has been in regular contact with us informing us of his progress - this outcome is thanks to him. Perhaps Parks and Wildlife will take these sorts of cases more seriously from now on.

As good an outcome as could be expected, I suppose. Good on you and Cam for looking after the critters and sticking it out.

Where are the snakes now? I seem to remember they were given to someone to look after, but did they ever move on from here?

Thanks Renenet. We were never told what happened to them except some word on here that they went to Brisbane, would like to know that they're all good.

 

[Renenet]

I'll back up what Sean said there, Mark Hogenelst has been in regular contact with us informing us of his progress - this outcome is thanks to him. Perhaps Parks and Wildlife will take these sorts of cases more seriously from now on.

Let's hope so.

We were never told what happened to them except some word on here that they went to Brisbane, would like to know that they're all good.

Hopefully someone will know. It would be nice to know there was a happy ending for the animals.

 

[Venomous_RBB]

That is so sad... I have wanted a snake my whole life(now nearly 20, I finally have one <3) and to see someone abuse them like this... it's really horrible.
I have just aquired my first snake and out of all my animals, she is the easiest to care for. I am baffled of how that person could of kept their pets like that???

Glad to hear they are now being taken care of but still... I really wish that there were harsher penalties for abusing animals...

 

[cma_369]

if they were exotics imagine how quickly police, rspca and media would respond.......
Sickening!!!
I will use this as a reason not to donate next time someone from rspca bugs me
REPTILES MATTER!!!!!!!

 

[miss_mosher]

Oh my god... That is disgusting. The poor things. But good on you for doing your best, like you said it shouldn't be your responsibility in the first place! I currently only have a few myself and thats the financial and time limit for me at the moment, because between my dog and all the reptiles, I still have time to individually care for and handle them every day. I think some people become obsessed and lose control...

A similar thing happened to me but it was a lady around the corner who was hoarding cats and dogs. I only found out the extent of the problem myself when one of her dogs was hit by a car and I could hear it yelping so I investigated to find that her house had an unbelievable amount of cats, dogs, kittens, poo, urine stains and not to mention the scattered, rotted food, fleas and stench! Then she told me when I persisted on taking the dog to an after hours vet that she'd never seen one in her life! When I got home my family had to lock my dog in a room from me while I undressed outside, washed my clothes three times over, disinfected the car and showered. Yuk, yuk, yuk!

 

[Heelssss]

Hopefully the animals are living a great life now!

 

[Python-Lover4lyf]

I have never felt so angered and disgusted until reading this story :x. It's a gift to have ANY type of snake no matter what temperament and it's a disgrace to the world of herps to have someone neglect and take advantage of those amazing animals. If you can't even care for one properly why the h*** would you have over 40. That digraceful creep should be punished the way they were for who knows how long! The only thing that puts me at peace is that they are now being taken care of (PROPERLY) and those that were wild released after being attended to. Sorry for they outburst

*the outburst*

 

[Morgana]

This incident has certainly fired people up, as it should. Please don't think however, that it's only reptiles that receive the cold shoulder from the authorities. I own both snakes and furry critters, and in my time as a horse owner I have had the eye-opening experience of assisting in the rescue of neglected and abused horses. Often reduced to tears, my daughter and I would help care for the rescued animals whilst the relevant 'authorities' worked on the cases. IN EVERY SINGLE CASE, THE OWNERS WERE GIVEN A SMALL FINE, A LECTURE BY THE RSPCA, AND THE ANIMALS WERE RETURNED TO THEIR "CARE" !!! After much digging and worming around, I encountered an equally frustrated RSPCA officer who told me confidentially that horses were hardly ever seized permanently because the RSPCA doesn't have the room to paddock them. That's right, the morons who are supposed to be defending the helpless creatures of this world can't work out a solution to this 'insurmountable' problem. How about paying some farmer a modest fee to agist them until they are rehomed so it saves him slashing his fields? Hard, isn't it?
I would say that snakes represent the 'unsavoury' to some of the fluff and feathers volunteers at such organizations - and to some of the paid staff also - so procrastination is their first line of action.
As for Parks and Wildlife...bloody hell, I would have expected quicker action there.
Anyhow, a good outcome for the snakes and the offender has a date with his karma.
Morgana

 

[cma_369]

only infront of the cameras they seem to give a stuff!
I seriously don't understand how hard it is to reverse the onus onto the accused to prove he hasn't neglected his animals, rather then force rangers to spend countless man hours chasing their tails....
Also, INCREASE! the bloody fines, like they have with traffic infringments.
It will raise even more revenue for our cash strapped governments and people might finally wake up and smell the cheese!

 

[Raymonde]

It seems that although this case had an ok outcome (animals safe and re-homed, and owner prosecuted although only lightly fined), ULTIMATELY if you want to prove without a doubt that someone is mistreating or failing to properly care for their animal(s) you must leave all the animals alone and provide no care, even if it means they die as a result as that is the only way authorities can't question your allegations, don't buy them off the owner, don't clean them or feed them, just report it and take pictures, and watch the animals die or suffer.....

in other words the system sucks. Its a matter of deciding whats more important, providing treatment and saving the animals life OR making sure that the owner with be prosecuted and stopped from doing the same thing again

Luckily in this situation it was possible to eventually get both outcomes. But only because Cam and Sean cared enough to persist with reporting it. Well done Cam and Sean, you did a really great job in a really crappy situation

(p.s. i am not saying don't provide care for mistreated animals, i know i wouldn't have been able to stop myself if i had been in cam's and sean's position, i am saying the system wants us to not provide care IF we want any official action to be taken)

 

[miss_mosher]

This incident has certainly fired people up, as it should. Please don't think however, that it's only reptiles that receive the cold shoulder from the authorities. I own both snakes and furry critters, and in my time as a horse owner I have had the eye-opening experience of assisting in the rescue of neglected and abused horses. Often reduced to tears, my daughter and I would help care for the rescued animals whilst the relevant 'authorities' worked on the cases. IN EVERY SINGLE CASE, THE OWNERS WERE GIVEN A SMALL FINE, A LECTURE BY THE RSPCA, AND THE ANIMALS WERE RETURNED TO THEIR "CARE" !!! After much digging and worming around, I encountered an equally frustrated RSPCA officer who told me confidentially that horses were hardly ever seized permanently because the RSPCA doesn't have the room to paddock them. That's right, the morons who are supposed to be defending the helpless creatures of this world can't work out a solution to this 'insurmountable' problem. How about paying some farmer a modest fee to agist them until they are rehomed so it saves him slashing his fields? Hard, isn't it?
I would say that snakes represent the 'unsavoury' to some of the fluff and feathers volunteers at such organizations - and to some of the paid staff also - so procrastination is their first line of action.
As for Parks and Wildlife...bloody hell, I would have expected quicker action there.
Anyhow, a good outcome for the snakes and the offender has a date with his karma.
Morgana

I have a solution to this problem... STOP BUILDING BEAUTIFUL HOUSES PACKED LIKE SARDINES ON THE PADDOCKS. I used to attend a riding school here and in the last decade, ALL of the paddocks that housed the 150+ horses have been covered in houses. One of the biggest lot of paddocks is right next to a massive water bird habitat which obviously smells a bit during Spring. So what happened when they flattened the paddocks and put hundreds of houses on them? The people living there complained about the smell so the council ripped all the natural flora from the Waterbird habitat to stop attracting birds. So now it's a fenced off creek with a bunch of sheep living happily in their houses next door... Furious!
Oh and naturally my riding school got shut down and replaced by a woollies. The end.