T.O. raid yields flood of cobras, other vipers, gators and more (California) - via Herp Digest

 Ventura County Star, by John Scheibe, July 6, 2017

A man was arrested Thursday in Thousand Oaks after animal-control inspectors found that a home held more than 40 exotic and venomous snakes, including numerous species of cobras.

Todd Kates, 55, was booked into Ventura County jail in connection with more than a dozen felony offenses of animal cruelty, jail records state. 

He was taken into custody as authorities served a search warrant at the ranch-style house along the 1300 block of Rancho Lane after a motorist spotted an estimated 6-foot snake slithering across a road about eight weeks ago, said Marcia Mayeda, director of animal care and control for Los Angeles County. Thousand Oaks contracts with L.A. County for animal-control services.

Mayeda said the driver deliberately drove over the snake, killing it. It turned out to be a Cape cobra, a highly poisonous snake that's native to southern Africa, Mayeda said.

"This was the third time a cobra had been seen in the neighborhood," Mayeda said.

Another cobra was found and caught in the area in September 2014. That snake turned out to be a monocled cobra. Authorities also learned that someone who lives nearby had recently seen what appeared to be either a red-bellied black snake or a red spitting cobra, both of which are venomous.

"That snake has yet to be found," Mayeda told a throng of reporters during a news conference Thursday afternoon in front of the home. 

Other species of cobras were also found in the home, including Egyptian cobras.

Each of these snakes, along with others found on Thursday, "pose a significant danger to the public," Mayeda said, noting that "these are very dangerous species.”

She urged anyone encountering a snake in the area to call 911. For anyone bitten by a snake, "it would be very important to be able to describe what kind it is" so the appropriate antidote can be administered, Mayeda said.  

Staff members from the Los Angeles Zoo were called to the scene to help investigators identify the numerous species of snakes and other exotic animals found on the Thousand Oaks property, Mayeda said.

Investigators also searched a second home in the 800 block of Carlisle Road in Ventura County where dozens more venomous snakes were found. In all, Mayeda reckoned that about 80 snakes were found at the two sites.

Mayeda said Kates did have a permit to keep the snakes, but only at the Carlisle Road property. 

"He had no permit to keep them here," she said as she stood in front of the Rancho Lane home.

After the Cape cobra was found dead on Rancho Lane, investigators suspected Kates was also keeping snakes at the home there. An investigation was opened and search warrants were obtained, she said. 

Other exotic animals were also found, including up to eight American alligators and dozens of other exotic reptiles, among them a Gila monster.

Kates' bail was set at $250,000 but jail records did not indicate any scheduled court dates.

According to Ventura County Superior Court records, prosecutors had not formally charged him with animal cruelty as of Thursday night.

"I think it's just despicable the kind of condition these animals were kept in," said Ventura County Undersheriff Gary Pentis as he recalled the allegedly filthy areas where they were kept.

Investigators also found numerous rodents, including mice and rats, that they suspect were used to feed the snakes. 

Some of the snakes and other animals were found in a detached shed near the Rancho Lane home, Mayeda said.

Mayeda and Pentis said authorities hope some of the animals rescued Thursday will be going to the L.A. Zoo.

Asked why someone would keep so many poisonous snakes and other exotic reptiles and animals, Mayeda said, "I don't know the motive."

She noted that it's not uncommon for those who keep reptiles to include venomous ones in their collection. Among the things investigators planned to look at was whether the snakes and other animals were being bought and sold among reptile collectors. 

Neighbors along Rancho Lane had mixed reactions to the response Thursday.

Roger McGrath, who lives next door, described the whole operation as "overblown." McGrath said he woke up on Thursday to see a SWAT team and officers in full-body armor and their weapons drawn outside his neighbor's house.

He was immediately concerned, fearing something might be wrong with someone at the house. It was only later that McGrath said he learned the police presence was because of the animals.

"It seemed to me that it was a bit of an overreaction" on the part of authorities, McGrath told reporters Thursday morning. McGrath spoke before investigators had provided an inventory of the animals found at the home.

"It looked like an assault on the house early this morning," McGrath said. "It certainly didn't look like they were doing a simple search warrant for exotic pets.”

McGrath described the reptile owner as "the greatest neighbor that anyone could ask for." 

Another neighbor, John Davidson, said venomous snakes beyond the rattlesnakes that are native to the area and found out in the open were inappropriate to keep.

A resident since 1974, Davidson said many of the residents raise animals in a neighborhood that boasts half-acre lots. Horses and other large animals are common in the area.

But “there’s no room for cobras” to be kept in the neighborhood, Davidson said.

According to Lt. J.C. Healy, of California Fish and Wildlife, Kates had been permitted for years by the agency, but he could not say how long.

"He's a permitted holder of restricted species — some poisonous snakes," said Healy, who is assigned to Ventura County and was present for the search.

"We advised them that this guy does have permits on file with us. So they obtained that search warrant based on the severity of the issue."