Investigators were in for a shockingly slithery surprise last Thursday.
An Animal Control officer was arrested after officials discover up to 850 snakes living in his Shirley, NY home.
Authorities say that Richard Parrinello had up to 850 live snakes living in his garage, with two of them Burmese pythons. The snakes are said to cost upwards of half a million dollars.
Burmese pythons are currently illegal in New York, and they are illegal for a reason.
Roy Gross, Suffolk Country SPCE Chief explains, "Burmese pythons can grow to 30 feet long. They're an accident waiting to happen." He also cites the deaths of two small boys in Brunswick, Canada, who were killed by an African Python while they slept.
Richard Parinello has been charged with running an illegal business; he has been an on-off -on-off animal-control officer in the town since 1988.
Suspicions had arisen when authorities came to investigate whether Parrinello had been working despite being on disability leave, but instead spotted snakes on his property.
An undercover investigation was launched soon afterward, catching footage of Parrinello saying that he had half a million dollars worth of inventory that included not only snakes, but also turtles, as well as turtle eggs (in some countries, the selling of turtle eggs are illegal)-all of them presumably lumped together in Parrinello's detached garage, which had been converted into a habitat space of sorts.
Richard Parrinello faces charges of owning the pythons, and for running a business at home without a permit. So far, he has been cooperating, but there has been no word yet on whether his sentence would be lightened, or what should be done with him.
Of the 850 snakes, the pythons were sent to a Massachusetts animal sanctuary. The fate of the other reptiles remain unknown.
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