Reptiles, Horses, Potbellied Pigs, Exotic Cats Not Immune To Foreclosures

In Hesperia, California, the Victorville Daily Press reports:

• More than 200 reptiles worth an estimated $90,000 were found abandoned in a freezing, filthy room attached to a garage in Hesperia. Most were alive, though weak. Some had died from the cold or dehydration, including two gila monsters. “This is absolutely the biggest reptile rescue I’ve ever done by far,” said Joel Almquist, owner of the non-profit Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Phelan.

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• Though the investigation by Hesperia Code Enforcement and Animal Control is still underway, Almquist suspects the reptiles may be the latest victims of the foreclosure epidemic sweeping across the High Desert. “I’ve been getting a lot of calls like that lately,” he said. Not long ago, a real estate agent called Almquist after finding six potbellied pigs abandoned at a foreclosed property. [...] The same thing happened with six sickly thoroughbred horses that a man brought by a few months back. [...] Almquist has also gotten calls from Norco Animal Control asking him to take an African Serval Cat, and Fish and Game about an alligator found in a foreclosed home in Fontana.

For more, see 200 reptiles abandoned in Hesperia.

For more on foreclosures and abandoned animals, see Foreclosures & Pets I, and see Foreclosures & Pets II. petsII and foreclosures