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Humans never cease to disgust me. As I was walking through our retail area today, a glimpse of blue outside our front door caught my eye. Upon opening this mysterious cooler, I discovered two boa constrictors that had been abandoned - freezing, malnourished, and dying.
These snakes are lucky. My zoo has been closed to the public since December 14th. This means no one is regularly going through our front doors. The only reason I was even at the front door was to let a supplier in. This wasn't until 1PM and they had been there since last night.
As I looked at the cooler, I thought in my head "no way". I opened the cooler lid slowly and my fears proved correct. I honestly thought they were dead when I first saw them, as neither moved. I immediately radioed the zookeeper on site to meet me as I carried them inside.
One of the snakes slowly moved its head and looked at us as we opened the cooler another time. They were alive but barely. It was freezing in Toronto last night and even though the owner had placed a heat bottle with them it was not enough to keep them warm until we found them.
Our first step was giving them a warm bath to not only get their bodies back to a proper temperature but also provide some level of hydration. They felt limp as we lifted them into the water. As the water soaked their bodies, a strong cigarette smell clouded the air.
CW Animal Neglect
Normally I keep my language very professional at work, especially when working around our coop students. But, I couldn't help but mutter a "what the fuck" as we realized just how skinny one of the boas was.
The pictures speak for themselves.
Normally I keep my language very professional at work, especially when working around our coop students. But, I couldn't help but mutter a "what the fuck" as we realized just how skinny one of the boas was.
The pictures speak for themselves.
CW Animal Cruelty
Both of the boas have severe injures/deformities on their tails/mouths as well retained shed coating their eyes and parts of their body. The mulch they arrived in was also covered in mold. At least one of them also appears to have a severe respiratory issue.
Both of the boas have severe injures/deformities on their tails/mouths as well retained shed coating their eyes and parts of their body. The mulch they arrived in was also covered in mold. At least one of them also appears to have a severe respiratory issue.
I feel so bad that I did not see them until 1PM but none of us would have ever expected to find this "early Christmas present" on our doorstep. I can only hope the cold temperatures didn't make their condition any worse and that we still have a chance to save them.
We made sure both boa constrictors settled in nicely to their warm, clean homes in our quarantine room before we left for the night. Tomorrow their treatment continues. We will be treating them with extra care to ensure nothing transfers to the rest of our animals.
No animal deserves to be mistreated. When you take on an animal as a pet, you are making a commitment for as long as it lives. It doesn't matter if you think they're less deserving because they're a snake. It is still a living, breathing animal capable of suffering.
If you have an animal you can no longer care for, abandoning them outside a zoo is NOT the way to go. There are options - multiple options. Many rescue organizations accept owner surrenders no questions asked. In fact, I run a SURRENDER PROGRAM at this very zoo!
Our surrender program has been at capacity because of COVID but, if the owner had contacted us explaining the seriousness of the situation, I would have gladly found a solution for them. I do this with every surrender email I receive - regardless of the species.
A person's true moral test, their fundamental test…consists of their attitude towards those who are at their mercy: animals.
An early Christmas gift to us - both boa constrictors made it through the night. Today we will be giving them medicated baths as well as attempting to get them to eat something small.
Bath time for boas! By giving them warm baths, it gives us an easy way to hydrate them as well as remove parasites or other yucky things on their skin 
We just discovered this one, the skinniest, has a lucky horseshoe pattern on its back!
We just discovered this one, the skinniest, has a lucky horseshoe pattern on its back!
