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Snake breeders file a lawsuit
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by tigers9 on December 23, 2008
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http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=227247
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 << Previous Next >>
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Snake breeders file a lawsuit
They say another breeder issued a false police report
BY COURTNEY BLANCHARD TH STAFF WRITER
Photo by: Dave Kettering
James Stelpflug
You could call it a reptilian rivalry.
A pair of Dubuque snake breeders filed suit against a breeder in Dickeyville, Wis., because they say he made a false police report that sparked a search warrant on their home nearly two years ago.
On Jan. 3, 2007, authorities entered 1958 Grace St. and discovered more than 350 snakes and 500 feeder rats and mice in the home, squiggling in cages stacked all over the basement and upper level of the house. The bathroom was converted into a cooling room, where a red light dimly shined on snakes in a near-hibernation state. Frozen egg shells and baby snakes piled up in a freezer.
William Shaffer and Linda Merfeld weren't breaking any laws by breeding hundreds of snakes and mice in the home. However, they were each issued a municipal infraction for possessing sand boas, an animal outlawed by the city's dangerous animal ordinance. They pleaded guilty and paid the $100 citations, according to court records.
Besides the three sand boas, which are now legal in the city of Dubuque, three other snakes were confiscated, said Mary
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Rose Corrigan, public health specialist with the city of Dubuque. Two milk snakes were later returned to Shaffer and Merfeld. The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium received a federally protected eastern indigo snake, and Shaffer was fined $1,000 for violating the Endangered Species Act, according to federal authorities.
The raid drew a lot of attention to the breeding operation, and in the lawsuit Shaffer and Merfeld called it an "unjust invasion of their home" that caused "humiliation, embarrassment, severe mental and emotional distress" and "exposure to public hatred, contempt and ridicule."
The suit names James and Nancy Stelpflug, owners of SW Reptiles in Dickeyville, as the defendants. Merfeld and Shaffer claim the Stelpflugs "exceeded the bounds of human decency" by intentionally filing a false police report that claimed they illegally trafficked reptiles across state lines, according to the suit. The report led to the raid, they claimed.
James Stelpflug said Friday that he couldn't comment on the suit.
As of Monday, there were no police reports filed under the name James or Jim Stelpflug, according to the Dubuque Police Records Department.
However, Stelpflug wrote a letter to Dubuque Animal Control, which is included in the search warrant application for the Grace Street home.
"As the owner of Wisconsin's largest and oldest reptile breeders, SW Reptiles, I have concerns when reptiles are not being properly or legally kept. Specifically I am concerned about L & B Reptiles, 1958 Grace Street in Dubuque, Iowa. The owners, who are listed on the Internet as breeders of reptiles, including boa constrictors and python snakes, are William Shaffer and Linda Merfeld," Stelpflug wrote.
The letter also included a diagram of the Grace Street home and a flyer from a reptile show in Chicago.
However, Corrigan said the Health Department pursued the search warrant not only because of Stelpflug's letter, but because neighbors called police to complain of an unpleasant smell wafting from the home.
Corrigan gave Merfeld and Shaffer a warning to keep the odor under control; she said there have been no substantiated complaints since the raid.
Merfeld didn't return calls for comment.
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RE: Snake breeders file a lawsuit
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by LarryDFishel on December 23, 2008
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Well, at least they got those dangerous sand boas off the street. "If it saves just one toe..."
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RE: Snake breeders file a lawsuit
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by geckolover on December 23, 2008
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Rob, its more like if it just to save a band aid for some thing more serious, like a paper cut. I think they should fine the competition, even though they were keeping the harmless snakes illegally.
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RE: Snake breeders file a lawsuit
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by Cro on December 23, 2008
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Eggnog ?
I thought it was more like José Cuervo, LOL.
Best Regards
John Z
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RE: Snake breeders file a lawsuit
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by Cro on December 23, 2008
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Just kidding, Geckolover !
Best Regards and Merry Christmas.
John Z
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RE: Snake breeders file a lawsuit
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by tigers9 on December 23, 2008
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Cro wrote:<<Eggnog ?>>
I don't drink eggnog straigt, i dilute it with brandy or other nice smelling alcohol
Anyway have a nice Xmass too.
Z
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