Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The SPCA Tampa Bay has hundreds of exotic animals available for adoption, including many seized from an Oldsmar home earlier this month.
Some of the more than 300 animals seized from an Oldsmar home Jan. 6 are now available for adoption in Largo. The animals were discovered when Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call about a missing child. For about two weeks, the SPCA Tampa Bay in Largo has been caring for the exotic menagerie of around 340 animals, which has doubled its normal census. Now the hedgehogs, bearded dragons, geckos, hamsters, mice and rats are ready for adoption. SPCA Tampa Bay CEO Martha Boden showed Hester the hedgehog to visitors Tuesday. She explained hedgehogs live alone but are quite social. They are nocturnal animals, so if you play with them during the day they may be a bit sluggish. They need a varied diet, which includes cat …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Monday The SPCA Tampa Bay in Largo continued to assess and treat more than 300 animals, which the nonprofit received Sunday.
Rats, snakes, rabbits, hedgehogs, dogs: more and more animals seemed to appear in every corner at Largo's SPCA Tampa Bay on Monday. SPCA staff and volunteers spent 12 hours on Sunday getting more than 300 animals situtated at their Largo center. Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies reportedly found the animals while responding to an emergency call concerning a child missing in Oldsmar. SPCA officials don't remember ever receiving this many animals or this variety of animals at once. Its like "a pet store. It sounds like that's what the family was doing, selling pets at flea markets... a real mix of species. Some we had to look up," said Martha Boden, CEO of SPCA Tampa Bay. In a normal day the Largo nonprofit receives 30 to 50 animals, most …
Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputies say they discovered the animals while responding to a 911 call about a missing child.
Nearly 300 animals were discovered at an Oldsmar home when deputies responded to a 911 call about a missing child early Sunday morning, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. A spokesperson says deputies responded to a call about a missing 16-month-old from a home at 206 Lee St. Jeffrey O'Neil, 26, and Jennifer Kovacs allegedly told deputies the child crawled out of a crib, opened the front door and had been missing for at least an hour. Deputies say when they arrived at the home, the couple appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. While at the home, a note was discovered from a relative who said they'd picked up the child and had taken her to their home because the child was crying and the relative could not wake O'Neil…
