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RIVERDALE -- Someone dumped two exotic snakes in a trash bin in Riverdale. Animal advocates suspect some pet owners may no longer be able to afford to keep their animals.
South Ogden Animal Control officers were called to rescue a red tail boa that someone left in a Dumpster. A second snake found in the tote had died.
James Dix of Reptile Rescue Service said, "Can you imagine being in a tote in this heat? What was it, 96 degrees today? It probably got to 150 degrees in the Dumpster.
"The only reason the other one survived is that it got under the trash and could cool off and had ventilation and air. All the air probably starved out of there. You'd be like a sweatbox and you'd burn up inside."
Dix said killing a snake this way is felony animal abuse and neglect.
"Don't just throw your snakes out like trash. This is a living animal. I'm in business to save them and it really tears me apart to see this. There's no excuse for this," he said.
Dix thinks the down economy makes it tough for some pet owners to feed their animals.
