Animal Advocates Want NY Reptile Museum Closed

by Lorri Cramer

Deplorable conditions; sick turtles, snakes and lizards; lack of proper food, heat and lighting; and overcrowding are just some of the complaints that have plagued the Long Island Reptile Museum in Hicksville, New York, since its opening in 1995.

In April 2002 the museum was charged with cruelty to animals as a result of a report that one of the lizards at the museum had its jaw wired shut.

Animal advocates who visited the museum this past spring say that the animals were dehydrated and underfed. Some dead animals were left on display and others were covered in mites and herpes sores.

The museum's owner, Steven Kates, states that the museum opened in 1995 with good intentions. He acknowledges that there are problems, but that conditions are improving.

According to Mr. Kates, people started dropping off unwanted pets. Soon he had 50 iguanas and 60 boa constrictors.

"I thought I could handle it, but I really couldn't," he declared.

One of the Museum's most outspoken critics, Lori Green, is now volunteering at the site. She has set up a rehabilitation program and helped train the staff, who she describes as "dedicated and caring."

According to Harry Babb, a deputy chief of the Nassau County SPCA , the museum "has been a major problem for some time. We've had vets up there and experts from the animal world, but it is slow going."

"I don't know what the place is still doing opened," declared Rusty Gilman, a reptile rehabilitator, who has taken 18 animals from the museum for treatment.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.