Amnesty offered to owners of illegal pets Saturday in Holtsville
Owners of illegal animals can turn them in Saturday in Holtsville -- no questions asked. Credit: AP
Owners of illegal pets may turn in the animals Saturday -- no questions asked -- at the Town of Brookhaven’s Holtsville Wildlife and Ecology Center.
The amnesty day is the first of its kind in Suffolk County, said Chief Roy Gross of the Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, one of the event's organizers.
Trained handlers from the SPCA, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will accept the animals from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the ecology center, 249 Buckley Rd., Holtsville.
Officials are asking owners to turn in pets such as reptiles and amphibians that require special state or federal permits because they are considered protected, endangered or threatened. It is illegal under state law to own certain exotic animals without a permit.
Gross said pet owners will not face penalties if they turn in unlicensed exotic pets.
“The purpose of this effort is to get these illegally possessed animals into a controlled environment where they can be cared for properly,” Gross said in a statement.
For more information, call the SPCA at 631-382-7722, the DEC at 631-444-0250 or the Fish and Wildlife Service at 516-825-3950.
