[FEL-L] Re: NC: Zoo owner, girlfriend charged (follow up)

Thu Aug 3 10:16:01 CDT 2006

Since when is a Diamondback Rattlesnake endangered???  And since when is
OWNING a gun suspicious activity??

It does seem like they are grasping for straws.

-Lance

-----Original Message-----
From: felines-l-bounces at catbox.com [mailto:felines-l-bounces at catbox.com]
On Behalf Of Ray
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 12:44 AM
To: Phoenix_Exotics at yahoogroups.com
Cc: felines-l at catbox.com
Subject: [FEL-L] Re: NC: Zoo owner, girlfriend charged (follow up)

So, if he had the same 10 machines but put 5 in one room and 5 in
another it 
wouldn't be a crime?

And 8 are busted and all are obsolete anyway.

Kind of sounds like they are grasping for a charge there.

Also sounds like he stands to lose his license(s).

More displaced "pet exotics" coming up!

What's in YOUR medicine cabinet? Anything from a departed 
S.O./spouse/relative/pet?

Ray

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <SOUTHZOO at AOL.COM>
To: <Phoenix_Exotics at yahoogroups.com>
Cc: <felines-l at catbox.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 7:59 PM
Subject: [Phoenix_Exotics] NC: Zoo owner, girlfriend charged (follow up)

Zoo owner, girlfriend charged
____________________________________

By _Scott Jenkins_ (mailto:sjenkins at salisburypost.com)
Salisbury Post
The owner of a private zoo near Rockwell was charged Monday with felony
possession of video poker machines, and his girlfriend was charged with 
three
drug-related felonies.
Steve Macaluso, 48, of 4400 Cook Road, was also charged with misdemeanor
possession of a controlled substance for having two doses of
Amitriptyline, 
a
prescription antidepressant.
Beth Kristen Hullett, 26, of the same address, is charged with
trafficking 
in
 heroin and possession with intent to sell the painkillers hydrocodone
and
propoxyphene.
Arrest warrants served by Rowan County Sheriff's Detective K.L. Myers
say
Hullett had between 14 and 28 grams of heroin, 10.5 hydrocodone pills
and 22
propoxyphene pills.
Macaluso owns Metrolina Wildlife Park on Cook Road, where state wildlife
authorities, assisted by local and federal authorities, staged a raid
July 
25
after receiving a tip about animals held illegally.
Formerly called Charlotte Metro Zoo, the park exhibits lions, tigers, 
wolves,
 bears, exotic birds and primates and animals that its Web site says can
be
petted, including camels, sheep, goats and llamas.
After an undercover investigation, the N.C. Wildlife Resources
Commission
seized animals and issued four citations against Macaluso for holding
native
North Carolina species, one protected, without proper permits.
A fifth citation, yet to be served, charges Macaluso with illegally
holding
an endangered species, an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Wildlife 
Resources
Sgt. Tony Sharum said Tuesday.
"The purpose of those rules are to protect native species from
over-harvesting and unregulated collection," Sharum said. "There's big 
business  for
snakes, whether poisonous or non poisonous."
During the raid, authorities discovered the drugs and several guns - for
which no charges have been filed - in Macaluso's house, Sharum said.
They 
found
10 video poker machines in his garage.
Sharum said the poker machines did not appear to be in use, but state
law
requires a permit for possession of more than five of the machines in
the 
same
room.
The law also requires special permits for possessing particular native
species. Authorities seized 15 birds and reptiles, including wild
turkeys, a 
hawk,
eastern box turtles, a timber rattlesnake and a copperhead.
Macaluso said Tuesday he was not aware of the permit requirements but
would
take responsibility for not having them.
"If I knew about the permits, I would've gotten the permits," he said.
"I 
own
 a zoo, so I guess I should've known."
He said the snakes were not his and that a friend who let the zoo
display
them assured him he didn't need special paperwork. The owl was
recuperating 
from
 an injury and not on display, he said, and the hawk belonged to his 
ex-wife.
In  the divorce case, a judge had ordered him to keep the hawk pending a
property  settlement, he said.
The two pills had also belonged to his ex-wife, he said. They were 
prescribed
 to her cat, and he had kept them to ask a veterinarian what they were,
he
said.
As for the poker machines, Macaluso said he has kept them in storage for
about 10 years. He had a vending route in New Jersey before moving to
North
Carolina and serviced the machines, but he said only two of them even 
remained
operable. The rest, he said, were junk.
Macaluso said he has five guns in his house: a rifle that belonged to
his
father, two shotguns and a handgun.
Macaluso said Hullet was not available Tuesday, and he declined to
comment 
on
 the charges against her.
Sharum said the turkeys have been euthanized to prevent them from
spreading
disease to the wild population. The birds of prey have been placed with
the
Carolina Raptor Center for assessment.
The reptiles will go to research facilities or be returned to the wild
if
possible, Sharum said. Snakes must be returned to their original
habitats, 
or
they won't know where to find food and water, he said.
An observer from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which licenses
parks
like Macaluso's, and agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
accompanied
state authorities to the park.
The Department of Agriculture has cited the park a number of times for
offenses including letting animal enclosures fall into disrepair or not 
drain
properly, allowing people to get too close to animals and not having the

proper
acquisition paperwork for some animals.
U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Darby Holladay said his agency
was
not conducting an investigation currently.
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Macaluso posted $1,000 bond, and Hullett posted $45,000 bond. Both are
due 
in
 Rowan County District Court today for a first appearance on the
charges.
Contact _Scott Jenkins_ (mailto:sjenkins at salisburypost.com)  at 
704-797-4248
or _sjenkins at salisburypost.com_ (mailto:sjenkins at salisburypost.com) .
_http://www.salisburypost.com/area/339368718527817.php_
(http://www.salisburypost.com/area/339368718527817.php)

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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