October 22, 2015 Round Rock, TX Four emus escaped their owner’s backyard and were on the loose in a suburban neighborhood. Authorities spent the afternoon trying to corral them back to their home, and were ultimately successful.
October 20, 2015 Derry, NH Dozens of malnourished animals, including an iguana, were seized after being found in a home in deplorable conditions.
October 19, 2015 West Philadelphia, PA A 4-foot boa constrictor escaped the pocket of the person who secretly carried it into a public bus and caused the bus to evacuate its passengers. Charges may be pending. Reptiles
October 19, 2015 Boise, ID A woman is being forced to downsize her pet exotic bird collection of 23 birds. However, it is unclear if an ordinance exists that applies to exotic birds in her area. Other
October 17, 2015 New York, NY A kangaroo was sighted in a parking lot after he escaped from his caretakers yard and came close to being hit by a car before being captured. Other
October 15, 2015 Broward County, FL A pet Siberian lynx escaped its home and was later captured by state wildlife officials. This was the second escape for the lynx and the guardian was cited. Small Cats
October 15, 2015 Tucson, AZ A woman named Bonnie Poe gave her capuchin monkey, Latoya, to a woman named Gail Mehrhoff for treatment when the monkey became ill with valley fever. Mehrhoff refused to give Latoya back, sparking a custody battle of over a year that involved the sheriff’s department and the courts. During that time, both Poe and the police lost track of Latoya’s whereabouts. Primates
October 14, 2015 Memphis, TN A boa attacked a tortoise, biting its head and wrapping itself around the tortoise’s neck, in front of spectators when both were placed in an enclosure together at the Memphis Zoo. A zookeeper was able to unwrap the snake and put him in a separate enclosure. Reptiles
October 11, 2015 Royal Palm Beach, FL A man threw a live alligator through a Wendy’s drive-through window. He faces three charges related to the incident: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; unlawful sale, possession or transporting of an alligator; and petty theft. An officer responding to the incident captured the alligator, taped its jaws shut “for safety” and released it into a nearby canal. Reptiles
October 9, 2015 Albuquerque, NM Sarabi, a 19-year-old lion, died of a ruptured splenic tumor. She had been suffering from ongoing renal failure, and her health had been declining since the zoo’s other lion, Cosmo, died in August. Big Cats