Roquetas poisonous snake keeper under investigation

TRICKY: The Guardia reported it was quite a challenge to catch all the snakes. CREDIT: Guardia Civil Almeria

A MAN who kept more than a dozen snakes in his Roquetas de Mar home, some of them poisonous, is under investigation for breaking flora and fauna protection laws.
Guardia Civil opened an investigation into the snake owner based on information that a person was keeping reptiles, some of them protected species and several potentially dangerous, in a property in the locality.
‘Operation Reptileman’ led to a search of the premises. Among the creatures officers found were two adult and five baby albino pythons, an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, a ladder snake, an Indian cobra and an Egyptian cobra.

CREDIT: Guardia Civil Almeria

The Guardia said that some of the snakes have venom so toxic that enough of it could kill someone.
Catching some of the snakes was pretty tricky. The Guardia particularly mentioned the cobras, commenting that their movements are so quick it was difficult to get a hold of and handle them, and meaning they had to exercise extreme caution.
CREDIT: Guardia Civil Almeria

The Guardia reported he owner either lacked documentation proving his ownership of the reptiles or produced papers which did not coincide with the creatures in his possession.

Author badge placeholder
Written by

Cathy Elelman

Cathy Elelman is the local writer for the Costa de Almeria edition of the Euro Weekly News.

Based in Mojacar for the last 21 years, Cathy is very much part of the local community and is always well and truly up on all the latest news and events going on in this region of Spain.

Her top goals are to do the best job she can informing the local English-speaking community, visitors to the area and the wider world about about the news in Almeria, to learn something new every day, and to embrace very new challenge this fast-changing world brings her way.

Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

Comments