Hey guys...
Have only just sat down after getting all the little guys settled in with full time heat for a few days, in a room of their own for the next 12 months or more and clean water.
our little Spikey (Central Bearded Dragon) was very under-nourished with a lot of loose skin, you could even see on his face and the other snakes as to how scared they were. But to our surprise, we also got Spiky's enclosure back which he use to love. But when we got it home, we had to clean the disgusting mess that was left in his enclosure (rotting kitty litter that hasn't been changed for god knows how many months along with dead woodies and rotting crickets. After we spent hours cleaning and bathing it in F10, we filled it up with his favourite reptile sand and all his furniture and when we put him in, you could literally see him come alive. We then started out by giving him some fresh crickets (around 10 all dusted) and it was like he had never been fed before, he polished every one of them off, so I went down to our fridge and got another 10 meal worms out, he also polished them off. I've never seen him eat so much in one setting, so he was obviously starving
But now he has a full tummy and is resting under his heat lamp, I'm sure you can see a smile on his face
Leanne was in tears
And just to let everyone know.... the other 4 pythons along with spiky we got back were the only ones we lent out to the two in question. So yes, we have got everything back including spiky's enclosure which we thought we would never see again. But the total that was seized from the property in Alstonville was 17, plus our 5.
Before we left from the Gold Coast this morning, we called NSW Parks and said we are coming down to get our animals. The admin assistant said that all the park rangers were out on field jobs and would not be back till 4pm, we said we are coming down anyway! We arrived around 2pm NSW time and we were surprised to see 2 or 3 park rangers appear with paper work in hand asking if we were Mr & Mrs Webb? Well... Leanne and I just looked at one another like What the hell has happened? They couldn't help us enough, they explained everything and said they have our animals and there on there way to the NSW Parks office as we speak and they assured us they were well looked after, they were all very nervous and couldn't apologise enought, they even helped load our car with the heavy enclosure and animals...
The only thing I can think of is the email I sent yesterday to every Park Ranger we knew of there, including the head marchos of DECC advising them of the papers, the ombudsman, including a link to this thread, I have a feeling they must of read this entire thread...lol...
So again guys, Leanne and I are so so thankful for the support and the out-pouring of disgust you have written in regards to the way DECC was handling things. I really do believe our positive and very happy out-come today was because of everyone that has written their opinion on this thread and that DECC have obviously ended up reading! You've got no idea as to how thankful we are that APS and the friends we have created along the way, we really both believe this has really helped us get our animals back.... Thanks to Everyone that has written in and supported us!
Colin, thanks to you again mate. Leanne and I would also like to support your idea for a legal battle ground or website to protect the reptile community from disasters like this from ever happening again, or at least have the legal backing if we need it. But more to the fact that govenment run bodies like DECC or anyone else that thinks they can poop on reptile owners again and not be accountable for their actions, especially in regards to the safety of the animals, will think bl**dy twice before trying to run us smaller people into the ground ever again!
P.S. Leanne has just informed me there are certain people on here that are still concerned for some reptiles that we unfortunately could not bring home with us today. Please don't worry, as were still on their case. Immediately after this, I will be following instructions given by the Rangers today on how to apply for taking ownership of the remaining animals. We will be pushing this till we get them back in our hands as we are also concerned for their welfare, especially after seeing the condition of ours. It really sickens us that someone can be this low towards something that depends on us to take care of them... We haven't finished yet!!!!
