An alligator, an anaconda and a cute pair of South American marmosets were among the illegal or exotic animals turned in Saturday at a Long Island amnesty event.
“Nothing surprises me,” said Roy Gross of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which helped run the first amnesty event to include mammals at Brookhaven’s Wildlife & Ecology Center. “If somebody walked in with a tiger it wouldn’t surprise me.”
No ferocious felines made it to the anonymous drop off, though someone did bring in a 2¹/₂-foot-long albino western diamondback rattlesnake — with enough venom to kill two adults.
The no-questions-asked event encourages owners to turn in unlicensed or illegal critters without fear of prosecution.
The day’s haul also included two boa constrictors, eight box turtles, an alligator snapping turtle, two yellow-bellied turtles and two African spurred tortoise.
Gary Gwinner and his son, Michael, of Franklin Square, reluctantly dropped off Dyno, a tortoise they’ve had for 13 years. While the tortoises are legal to own and are not considered dangerous, the family said they could no longer keep Dyno, who will now head to the Massachusetts sanctuary.
“He cost me $300 and he was the size of a Ping-Pong ball,” Gary Gwinner said.
“I’m going to miss him. Isn’t he beautiful?”
The other animals will be checked out by vets before officials find them appropriate homes.