Top Snake Scientist Said He Didn't Illegally Sell Boa
Source: WNBC
MORRISTOWN, NJ. -- The man in charge of the Liberty Science Center's reptile and amphibian collection is asking a judge to throw out a fine he received for selling a snake.
Danny Mendez, a well-known snake specialist and president of the
New Jersey Herpetology Society, told a state Superior Court judge Thursday that he was merely selling one snake in his personal collection for the same price he paid for it two years earlier -- not going into a snake-selling business. In New Jersey, it's illegal to retail reptiles without a pet shop license, but licensed hobbyists can sell serpents from their own collections.
In January 2005, Mendez sold a
yellow Amazon tree boa for $250 to an undercover state Division of Fish and Wildlife conservation officer. He was convicted of the offense in December by a municipal judge and fined $750.
Authorities said his Web site,
Urbanjungles.com was a snake-selling site. He says that's not true, that it gave snake information, though it had links to retail sites.
