An alligator, an iguana, a small monkey, an eight-foot Burmese python and 132 other non-domestic pets were dropped off Saturday at Connecticut’s first exotic animal amnesty day. The event was organized after an enraged chimpanzee attacked and severely injured a woman in Stamford, Conn., in February.
Held at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn., the event attracted pet-owners from across the state and even from nearby New York. Zoo employees and representatives of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection officials supervised the program.
One couple turned in two tortoises that were the size of a quarter when they were acquired years ago. Today, the two are as bigger than dinner plates and have outgrown several enclosures. They are expected to live another 80 years.
Another donor, a professional aquarium installer, turned in an alligator, now three-feet long, that he received from owners who didn’t know how to care for it. He had been keeping it in a 100-gallon tank and feeding it chicken wings and steak, but he had always hoped to find it an appropriate home.
The animals surrendered to Beardsley Zoo will get health checks. Some may be kept at the zoo and others will be sent to nature centers or educational groups that will care for them properly.
Several pet owners cried when they handed over their animals, according to a zoo spokesperson, but all realized that the creatures will be better off in a more natural environment. Others felt relief. Some said they were spending up to $50 a month of feed and care for their exotic pets.
Although more than 100 animals were turned in, Don Goff, zoo vice president, called the situation “just the tip of the iceberg.”
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