Ohio Exotic-Pet Owner Dies of Snake Bite

[Edwin]

Quote:
"They found more than a half-dozen large lizards running around an upstairs bedroom. Non-venomous animals were found under boxes and piles of clothes."

- Is there any wonder she got bit?

Link:
Click Here (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-snake-bite-death,0,3626815.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines)

[treegirl]

wow. Seems like it was something that was going to happen sooner or later. Too bad for her and all those poor creatures.

Cincy is only about 40 minutes or so from where I live.

[Samba]

Wow, what a shame... I hope that everyone doesn't think all herp lovers/keepers are like that... Any news on what has become of the animals???

[Nicki]

According to this article, they are at the zoo while they decide what to do with them. And it appeared that she took great care of the animals, too. It just looks like a REALLY sad accident.


THE POST (Cincinnati, Ohio) 13 September 04 Woman bitten by pet viper dies
North College Hill police enlisted the help of Cincinnati zookeepers Saturday to retrieve 23 reptiles, including 10 venomous snakes, from the home of a woman who died after being bitten by her pet viper.
Alexandria N. Hall, 44, was bitten by her Urutu pit viper on or about Sept. 6 while she was cleaning its cage, police said. She died Saturday at University Hospital.
Hall initially was treated at Mercy Hospital Fairfield and later was transferred to University Hospital, police said. Police could not say if she was bitten on Sept. 6.
Three herpetologists from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden accompanied North College Hill police into the home at 1830 Emerson Ave. to help secure and remove the reptiles.
When police forced their way into the home, they found several large lizards, who had apparently escaped from cages, wandering throughout the house, said Winston Card, the zoo's conservation program manager for reptiles, amphibians and aquatics.
The venomous snakes, fortunately, were secured in plastic cages throughout the house.
Card said it took nearly three hours to comb the house for the animals. Among the reptiles found was a western diamondback rattlesnake, which is one of the deadliest snakes in the world, along with a viper hybrid, two cobras, six lizards and two alligators.
"She was extremely obsessed with her animals," Card said. "It wasn't as if this woman was abusing these animals. She was taking very good care of them."
Still, Card said, it is no excuse for keeping deadly reptiles in a suburban home, endangering the lives of neighbors, strangers and the emergency personnel who had to enter the home.
"Your dogs may bite you, but it's probably not going to kill you," he said. "Venomous snakes, on the other hand -- there's a possibility you aren't going to survive it."
According to the non-profit national animal advocacy group, Animal Protection Institute, based in California, more than 7,000 venomous snakebites are reported annually in the United States, 15 of which result in death. It is not known how many of these incidents were the result of keeping the snakes as pets.
The recovered reptiles are being held at the zoo and will be examined in the next few days. After a 90-day quarantine, they will either be placed with other zoos in the country or remain at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Card said placing the creatures could be difficult because none of them are particularly rare.
He said putting them back into their natural habitats is not an option because it appears that most of them were born in captivity and therefore would not survive in the wild.
While many cities, including North College Hill, have ordinances against keeping dangerous animals, Card said it is common.
The Animal Protection Institute reports, for example, that between 6,000 and 7,000 tigers are privately and illegally owned in the United States.
"You put your neighbors at risk," he said. "These things are not pets."
A house of snakes
Of the 23 reptiles found Saturday in the North College Hill home of Alexandria N. Hall, 10 were venomous:
 Shield-nosed cobra;
 Monacle cobra;
 Western diamondback rattlesnake;
 Two Urutu pit vipers;
 Rhino viper;
 Gaboon viper
 Rhino viper/gaboon viper hybrid;
 Canebrake rattlesnake.
The 13 non-venomous reptiles found in the home were:
 Two western hognosed snakes;
 Rhino iguana;
 Green iguana;
 Solomon Islands skink;
 Two spectacled caimans;
 Two black and white tegu lizards;
 Red tegu lizard;
 Two savannah monitor lizards;
 Black throat monitor lizard.
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/09/13/snake091304.html

[Nicky]

Originally posted by Nicki
.
"Your dogs may bite you, but it's probably not going to kill you," .


hm ..... thats funny thats not what the media would have you to believe these days.

Hopefully this won't start more anti-reptile keeping bans.
Kayla

[snakehunter]

WOOPIE great PR for us...........

[Enter]

u can die from a dog bite wtf?

like that man that got his testies bittin off i would of killed my self on the spot

[Artemis]

wow she had quite a collection. And seemingly a lot of experience. Makes me shudder (again) at the thought of keeping a hot! All you hot keepers be careful!! Don't want any of you ending up that way.

I feel really bad for her. She was still really young. I doubt when she woke up that morning she thought it would be her last day on this planet.

Hot keepers use caution!!!


:) Artemis

[BWSmith]

While she may be experienced (we don't know, but probably at least fairly judging by the collection), it sounds far from ideal. At least she had the venomous secured. I do find it disturbing when venomous caging is "All over the house". It makes me wonder if she had proper protocols in place.

it is no excuse for keeping deadly reptiles in a suburban home, endangering the lives of neighbors, strangers and the emergency personnel who had to enter the home.

What a crock! There has NEVER been a case of an escaped venomous animal biting a neighbor, etc. Another elitist zookeeper that thinks that zoos are the only ones that should be able to keep exotic animals. i wonder if her realizes how much knowledge of captive husbandry of herps came from private keepers.

[Tim and Julie B]

Why was she reaching in the cage to clean it with a venomous snake still in it? I love how the first article didn't mention that the animals had escaped just that they were found lose. Makes a better article to not tell the whole truth I guess.

[BWSmith]

"While cleaning the cage" is a general term. It could have happened a hundred different ways. There is nothing to show that she didn't use proper tools. Accidents happen.