Man arrested after 8 alligators and dozens of venomous snakes found at his home

Todd Kates, 55, was led away in handcuffs by Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies Thursday after animal control officers found a pool of eight alligators on the property and around 84 Venomous Snakes inside his home. The Thousand Oaks Acorn reports that there have been incidents of a cobra escaping from the same home twice over the last three years, terrorizing the neighbors and biting one dog.

Animal trainer taken into custody over snakes and alligators on his property

Sgt. Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said they arrested Kates after searching the property and recovering around 84 snakes. They also found eight American Alligators, each from two to three feet long, in a pool on the property. Officials drained the pool in case other predators were hiding at the bottom. They also recovered several other animals including tortoises and birds.

Cobras terrorizing the neighborhood

Don Barre, a spokesperson for Animal Care and Control, said eight weeks ago the next door neighbor had spotted a cobra entering his property.

The neighbor then drove a car over the snake and killed it. Investigators then established the cobra had come from the home where an albino monocle cobra escaped in 2014, taking days to capture and biting a whippet dog. The most recent cobra incident prompted authorities to launch a new investigation into Kates’ home, leading to local authorities and animal control officers entering the property with search warrants on Thursday.

Suspect stored snakes at a second property

The LA Times reports officials searched his Thousand Oaks home, as well as another address in a rural area where Kates had rented storage space at an exotic animal farm for more of the reptiles. Barre said at the second property they found at least 20 snakes.

Barre added that Kates was “well over his permit” for that particular property. He added that Kates was also not authorized to keep the snakes at his home in Thousand Oaks.

Marcia Mayeda, director of animal control, told reporters that among the venomous snakes recovered from the property, there were king cobras, a spitting cobra, and one monocled cobra. All the reptiles are considered to be very dangerous and venomous.

The Department of Animal Care and Control said in a statement Thursday that Kates had no permit to keep the reptiles at his home and was illegally housing dozens of venomous snakes in a densely populated neighborhood, where they posed a serious risk to public safety. Kates was taken into custody and is facing 16 felony animal cruelty charges. He was taken to Ventura County jail on a bond of $250,000.