Over 700 Dead Rats, Reptiles Found At California Business
Lake Elsinore, CA – Over 700 dead rats and reptiles were recently discovered at a business in southern California, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Animal control investigators stated the reptile breeding business had essentially become a storage facility for a large number of dead animals. Officials are currently in the process of documenting all of the carcasses they found inside the establishment.
In addition to the 700 dead rats and reptiles, authorities removed 600 live snakes from the premises. Investigators also said the facility housed between 6,000 to 10,000 rats which were used to feed the reptiles.
Investigators were alerted to the conditions at Global Captive Breeders by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The complaint was reportedly filed on December 7. Dead rats and reptiles were among many issues found at the facility.
The company describes itself as follows:
“Located in Lake Elsinore, California, we have a state of the art facility with over 6,100 square feet of space in which we house and breed our stock. We have made several improvements to the building to ensure we could create the optimal conditions for each species, as well as create an effective system for feeding, cleaning and breeding all our animals; with swamp coolers, 30 feet of stainless steel sinks, circulating fans and a large HVAC system, we are able to maintain a clean environment consistently kept at the proper temperatures.
We maintain a large rodent colony. This keeps our costs down for our clients, as well as provides a consistent supply of high-quality food for our animals. Our rodents are only fed Harlan Teklad 2018, 2019 and 7004 diets. We are continuing to upgrade our rodent caging from Freedom Breeder, to caging of our own design.
We hope to soon expand and will keep you updated on our progress as projects develop.”
The Press-Enterprise reports that animal control officials are unsure what should be done with all of the animals. Finding a place to dispose of all the corpses could also prove to be a difficult task to accomplish.
Animal Friends of the Valley was one of many organizations that helped out with the clean-up process.
“Our primary focus at this point is to ensure the health and well-being of the animals on the site,” executive director Willa Bagwell explained to the Los Angeles Times.
As of this writing, no one was been charged with any crimes. Authorities said attempts to reach the owners of the reptile breeding business have proven unsuccessful.
What do you think should happen to the company for having over 700 dead reptiles and rats inside their breeding facility?
