Posted by Jerry Feldner on December 19, 1999 at 09:38:52:
The following was sent to me by friend in LA:
Jerry:
I thought you might be interested in this article which was posted on
Slither and my response.
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I was reading the Atlanta Journal - Constitution this morning and found an
article that I wanted to forward to everyone. If anyone else has any more
info about this let us know.
WOMAN WHO KEPT SNAKES DIES FROM BITE AT HOME
A zoo volunteer who kept 10 poisonous snakes in her Van Nuys, Calif.,
mobile home died from a bite from one and was found by police with a note
for help clenched in her severely swollen hand. The note in Anita Finch's
hand read, "Northridge Hospital - Ask for ICU." Finch, 33, had nearly
finished an animal keeper's training course at the Los Angeles Zoo and was
on her way to becoming a full-time employee there, said Michael Dee, the
zoo's general curator. Authorities killed her snakes.
That was all the article said. No other information as to what "poisonous"
snakes she was keeping or why she was handling them in the first place or
anything else. Anyone out on the west coast know anything more about this?
Jay
Atlanta, GA
E-mail
Item 8824844 99/12/18 21:54
From: MOMCAT.PETS Diane Lee
Sub: Sss: Re: Newspaper Article
Anita Finch was a long time member of the Southwestern Herpetologists
Society. Other members had repeatedly warned her that she was putting
herself at risk by the way she was keeping her rattlesnakes.
John, a friend of mine had visited her in an apartment where she lived a few
years ago. [She was living in a trailer park at the time of her death.] He
said that the rattlesnakes she had at that time were in ordinary glass tanks
with screen lids, no locks and as far as he could see no earthquake
precautions. She lived about 10 miles from the epicenter of the 1994
Northridge quake.
Steve Schatt, vice president and adoption chair of the Southwestern
Herpetologists Society was quoted in the local papers as saying that he had
warned her repeatedly about the threat posed by the gaboon viper. I beileve
this to be an accurate quote, because Steve said much the same thing to me
in September of this year. Steve has a permit to transport venomous snakes
and was for a time a curator at a small natural history museum which had
gaboons.
According to the paper, there were two puncture marks on her hand and the
gaboon viper seems to be the snake which made them. According to the paper
she had bought the gaboon from somebody in Texas and it was about one foot
in length.
As to the killing of the gaboon and her rattlesnakes, it is quite possible
that this was done by or at the direction of Cal Fish and Game. It is not
legal to release any captive reptiles in Cal. The rattlesnakes were not
legal in the City of Los Angeles and the gaboon was not legal in the state
of California.
The rescue group I work with recently held a workshop on the humane capture,
restraint, identification and evaluation (healthwise) of reptiles For 53
animal services professionals from SoCal and one from the San Francisco Bay
area. Steve demonstrated the proper way to use a snake hook, (with a non-
venomous snake) but the local animal control officers do not have the
equipment, training or experience to safely deal with venomous snakes.
Regrettable as the killing of the venomous snakes is, I think that it was
rational. Apparently Anita only had two non-venomous snakes in her
possession at the time of her death, a great basin gopher and a Cal king.
John picked up both of these animals from the shelter yesterday. As soon as
the authorities give permission (if they have not already done so) these
snakes will be placed with members of the herp society.
Anita truly cared about reptiles; at one time she brought me a black-headed
snake (Tantilla sp.) which had been fished out of a swimming pool. Another
time she gave me an alligator lizard which had stopped eating. (Turned out
that the lizard was gravid.)
Anita's family have indicated that they want her cages, other equipment and
herp books to go to the Southwestern Herpetologists Society.
Diane