Box beside road had ‘do not open’ sign on it, CA officials say. A python was inside
When Charlie Sammut, director of the Monterey Zoo in California, received a call Tuesday about a box left on the side of the road with what was believed to be a snakeinside, he said they went out immediately to go see it.
The box had holes cut in the sides and was closed with zip ties, but it was too heavy to move, Sammut said. It had been left on the side of Del Monte road in Marina and had a cardboard sign next to it that read: “Do not open large snake inside.”
The zoo employees brought the box back to the zoo, cut the ties open and realized it was a 17-foot-long reticulated python, weighing around 150 pounds, that had already died, either from heat or suffocation.
“It’s possible whoever left it was transporting the snake and dumped it there and it’s possible they left it there in the hopes someone would find a home for it and they wouldn’t have to,” Sammut told McClatchy News. “Many people buy these snakes as babies in pet stores and when they get to a size where they become dangerous and expensive and difficult to manage, they want to get rid of them but nobody can take them.”
SPCA for Monterey County came to the zoo to see the snake Thursday morning and is investigating the incident for animal abuse, according to Sammut. The agency will reach out to the public to see if anyone has information on who left the python in the event that the person has other animals that may be in danger, he said.
SPCA for Monterey County did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
It’s a misdemeanor in California to abandon animals and a statute criminalizes leaving pets “without proper care and attention in any building, enclosure, lot, street or other public place.”
The zoo director urges anyone who has a pet they don’t want anymore to contact SPCA and surrender their animal. In cases in which SPCA can’t be reached, he said the Monterey Zoo can act as a go-between.
“The important thing is really doing your homework on what the animal is going to turn into one day before going to a store and purchasing one of these things,” Sammut said. “There are alternative snakes that make wonderful pets that don’t get that big.”
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