32 live alligators, 30 snakes, others seized Casa Grande, AZ (US) Incident Date: Sunday, Apr 17, 2005 County: Pinal Local Map: available Disposition: Failed to Appear Person of Interest: Damon Heyman Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 4409 Classification: Unlawful Trade/Smuggling Animal: reptile View more cases in AZ (US) Login to Watch this Case

After a routine traffic stop near Casa Grande turned up 32 live alligators stacked in a trailer, members of a reptile rescue group in Scottsdale were busy digging cozy bogs for the animals. The nonprofit Phoenix Herpetological Society already had 26 gators before the April 17, 2005 find.

The largest alligator seized on April 17, 2005 was Amos and he was 8'9" long and weighs about 400 lbs. There were 2 that were in the 61/2 foot range and 2 more that were a little over 5 feet. The rest of the 32 were under 4 feet.

The trailer also yielded 30 boa constrictors, some rabbits, chickens and rats, and three protected desert tortoises.�

Damon Heyman of San Bernardino, Calif., 38, was unable to provide officials with possession papers or travel permits for the alligators, which are restricted wildlife, Aikens said. An investigation is ongoing.

Department of Public Safety officer Glen Swavely pulled over a pickup truck driven by Heyman on Interstate 10 just outside Casa Grande. The large fifth-wheel trailer Heyman was pulling did not have operational taillights, said DPS spokesman Frank Valenzuela.

During the stop, Swavely became suspicious and asked if he could search the trailer. Inside were the alligators � which officials said did not have their jaws taped shut � and the other animals.

Heyman told DPS officers he owned all the animals and was transporting them to his new home in Georgia, Valenzuela said. He was cited by DPS for driving on a suspended license and possession of protected desert tortoises.

Valenzuela added that DPS officials are trying to determine if Heyman broke federal statutes by taking the alligators across state lines.

DPS officials quickly realized they needed help with the load of animals and called Game and Fish experts, who taped the alligators� jaws and began taking them to the Phoenix Herpetological Society�s facility near 98th Street and Dynamite Boulevard.

"The most gators Game and Fish ever brought us before was three," said society president Russ Johnson. "We�ve been digging ponds and getting special rubber liners for them from a pool company so these animals have a place in water. It�s a big job. We have all kinds of people here and we�re all volunteers. It�s gonna take a while to get the gators all in the right places."

The society is a nonprofit organization that, Johnson said, is the reptile version of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

It is funded by donations with members making up the difference for costs. Johnson said gators are kept until they can be placed at zoos or other wildlife habitats. Gators "aren�t too desirable anymore," he said.

Costs will increase with the new additions, Johnson said. He figured a weekly food bill of $400 will at least double. And that�s not counting vitamins and equipment used to house the gators.

Johnson said his 32 newest boarders are in good shape. He hoped to have them in water before temperatures rise into the mid-90s, which "would be a problem and they�d be hurting," he said.

It took Game and Fish workers until 7:30 a.m. the next day to finish rounding up and transporting the gators to Scottsdale.

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References

East Valley Tribune - April 19, 2005

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