BleedGopher
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per STrib:
A midnight bite from a rare venomous snake was just the beginning of Nathan Tow-Arnett’s animal problems.
The former Gopher football player is embroiled in an unusual legal battle with the city of Minneapolis, simultaneously fighting criminal animal cruelty charges and trying to retrieve more than two dozen exotic animals and domestic cats.
The case stems from a Mangshan viper’s decision last July to strike at Tow-Arnett’s forearm at his northeast Minneapolis home as he reached into its aquarium for an egg. The Chinese snake is so rare in the United States that hospital officials could not locate antivenin in Minnesota to treat the wound. Still, he survived — the snake’s venom prevents blood clots, and antivenin was ultimately located.
But owning venomous snakes is also illegal in Minneapolis. And after learning of the incident, police and animal control officers forced open the door of the house and removed 15 snakes — including two diamondback rattlers — 11 cats, two lizards and 22 snake eggs. More than 20 lizards and an “aggressive” cat were left behind because they could not fit in the city’s van, according to court documents.
Tow-Arnett, who told city officials he was breeding animals for sale, launched a civil case to retrieve them last November. Months later, the city charged him with three counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty relating to his cats and one count of having too many cats without an appropriate permit.
http://www.startribune.com/snakes-slither-to-center-of-minneapolis-court-battle/386391081/
Go Gophers!!
A midnight bite from a rare venomous snake was just the beginning of Nathan Tow-Arnett’s animal problems.
The former Gopher football player is embroiled in an unusual legal battle with the city of Minneapolis, simultaneously fighting criminal animal cruelty charges and trying to retrieve more than two dozen exotic animals and domestic cats.
The case stems from a Mangshan viper’s decision last July to strike at Tow-Arnett’s forearm at his northeast Minneapolis home as he reached into its aquarium for an egg. The Chinese snake is so rare in the United States that hospital officials could not locate antivenin in Minnesota to treat the wound. Still, he survived — the snake’s venom prevents blood clots, and antivenin was ultimately located.
But owning venomous snakes is also illegal in Minneapolis. And after learning of the incident, police and animal control officers forced open the door of the house and removed 15 snakes — including two diamondback rattlers — 11 cats, two lizards and 22 snake eggs. More than 20 lizards and an “aggressive” cat were left behind because they could not fit in the city’s van, according to court documents.
Tow-Arnett, who told city officials he was breeding animals for sale, launched a civil case to retrieve them last November. Months later, the city charged him with three counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty relating to his cats and one count of having too many cats without an appropriate permit.
http://www.startribune.com/snakes-slither-to-center-of-minneapolis-court-battle/386391081/
Go Gophers!!
