A Utah snake collector who says his rare boa constrictors are getting a bad rap has won at least a temporary reprieve from an order to remove more than two dozen of the exotic pets from his home.   

Cottonwood Heights police cited Thomas Cobb for failure to have an exotic pet permit and told him he had until a week to get rid of all but one of his 29 boa constrictors.

Cobb values the snakes at $12,000 apiece and said he spent $100,000 on a special room in his basement with top-of-the-line cages. Some of the snakes are as long as 7 feet. Police officers noted in their report the setup was clean and well-kept.

City council members agreed to look into the case further after Cobb argued that a local ordinance is confusing.

Cobb got the attention of the council and the mayor after he took his fight against the snake eviction to the Internet and local radio shows. He maintains he’s the victim, in part, of the public’s distaste for snakes in general.

“We see movies, we see ‘Snakes on a Plane,’ we see ‘Anaconda,’ we see these movies where snakes are portrayed as monsters and can eat school buses, and that is not the case,” he told The Deseret News.

Cobb praised the council for having an open mind.

“I am pleased to find that they are at least willing to take and investigate further rather than make assumptions and going off on maybe their personal belief on snakes and maybe the reptile hobby keeping in general,” he said.

Cottonwood Heights police Sgt. Dan Bartlett said a neighbor spotted one of the snakes and called police to Cobb’s home last week. He said officers also found 80 rats, which were being kept as food for the snakes.

Cobb was cited for failing to have the permit required when anyone owns more than one exotic pet. He disputes that interpretation and maintains he needs to show only that he can properly care for the snakes, that they do not pose a danger to the public and that he has knowledge of the animals.

Cobb was scheduled to meet again with the council on May 7. He said he has invited all of the council members to his house to see the snakes firsthand, but as this writing, no one had taken him up on the offer.

Source: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com

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Are We There Yet?

Police in Utah say they’ve arrested a husband and wife bank robbery team that took their two children along for the illegal excursion.

An arrest report from Tooele (too-WIHL’-uh) police says the man and woman, both 27, were caught soon after a Wells Fargo branch was robbed. A 5-year-old and a 2-year-old were in the back seat.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the couple told police they robbed the bank because they faced eviction and growing medical bills.

Employees told police the woman entered the bank and showed the teller a note demanding money.

The woman reportedly ran from the bank to the car, which was driven by the man.

Police say they searched the vehicle and found the demand note, along with hundreds of dollars in cash.

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com

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The Luck of the Draw

The new mayor of the Utah city of Helper got a little help from Lady Luck for his job.

Ed Chavez Jr. and Councilman Kirk Mascaro each received two votes from the council to fill the vacant position one night. KSL reports that when it became clear the tie would not be broken, slips of paper bearing council members’ votes were placed in a wicker basket.

City Attorney Gene Strate then drew Chavez’s name from the basket, making him Helper’s mayor.

Chavez is filling the rest of Dean Armstrong’s term, which expires in January 2014. Armstrong resigned February 23, one day after he was arrested for investigation of his third DUI.

Chavez had retired from the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office after 25 years on the job.

Source: KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/