"I'm furious to be honest with you," says Biggs. "Everyone knows that I'm taking care of my animals."
A picture Biggs shared with LEX18 shows him with a red-tailed boa, one of his three pet snakes. A self-described snake lover, Biggs says the last thing he'd ever do is neglect them. But that's not what Garrard County Animal Control thinks.
Court documents show back in October, animal control seized three snakes and three dogs from Biggs's Garrard County home, alleging they were left abandoned and unattended. But Biggs doesn't understand why. He says he was out of town because his family was moving, but his wife was home with the animals.
"My wife was there everyday, boxing stuff up, and feeding the animals," says Biggs.
Biggs says one of the dogs seized was a stray that his family had taken in and was caring for. He had been keeping the snakes in an aquarium at home. Now the snakes are in protective custody.
"I asked [animal control] how they determined they were underfed if they knew nothing about the snakes, and she had no answer for that at all," says Biggs.
[Animal Control officers do not have to determine that the snake was underfed. That is what a licensed veterinarian is for. They leave notices and when neither Mr. Biggs nor his wife responded to the notices, the animals were removed from the house and taken into protective custody. If his wife was there "everyday" she would have seen the notices and called Animal Control back.]
Garrard County Animal Control told LEX18 they can't comment because it's an open case. Biggs wants his animals back, but has to wait to see how things turn out in court.
His arraignment for the cruelty to animals second degree, leash law violation, and animal vaccination charges is slated for February 4th.
(LEX18 - Feb 1, 2013)
