Man takes own life by putting hand in snake cage

The SPCA in Bloemfontein and Virginia have rescued more than 60 exotic animals and reptiles from a house in Henneman after the owner committed suicide and left the animals unattended.

All surviving animals were taken to the Johannesburg Wildlife Vet for emergency treatment.

SPCA spokesperson Werner Botha says a number of the animals rescued are extremely poisonous, which made the rescue operation more difficult.

“The suspect committed suicide by placing his Hands in two cages containing venomous snakes, while over 70 exotic and indigenous animals were left without care,” Botha said.

He said SPCA members from Bloemfontein and Virginia and Nature Conservation attended the scene to find that many of the animals had succumbed to starvation.

The Bloemfontein SPCA said in a post on Facebook that it was a sad moment when Chief Inspector Reinet Meyer opened the door of a Hennenman house to discover over 70 illegally kept wild animals in crisis.

“Following the death of their owner, Bloemfontein SPCA received an appeal for assistance from the local conservation authority indicating that a large number of illegally kept indigenous and exotic animals were slowly starving to death in his house.

“Upon the teams’ arrival at the house, they found that a number of animals had already succumbed to starvation and dehydration but that over 60 animals were still alive and would need rescuing.

“This rescue was made complicated by the fact that the majority of the animals were highly venomous snakes,” the SPCA said.

source:Man takes own life by putting hand in snake cage (algoafm.co.za)