HOLLADAY, UTAH (ABC4 News) – A Holladay man is facing nearly two dozen charges in connection to the seizure of 20 exotic pets and other animals from his home.
According to court documents from the 3rd District Court in Salt Lake County, Martin “Marty” Bone, 64, is charged with 20 counts of not having a permit for an exotic animal.
“On Friday morning, we served a search warrant at 1931 Cresthill Drive in the Holladay area,” said Det. Ken Hansen of the Unified Police Department.
During the execution of the warrant, investigators discovered 20 Burmese Python snakes, as well as other animals.
“We also found 585 rats and about 46 rabbits,” said Det. Hansen. “We had animal control there and we had a veterinarian there. So every animal that was taken from there had an examination including the snakes, rats, and the rabbits.”
Police say the snakes were freely roaming in the home, while the rats and rabbits were kept in an outside enclosure.
Mr. Bone did allow ABC4 into his home to see the enclosure he says he used for his snakes, but did say when he’s home he allows them to roam around inside. He also shared pictures of the snakes with ABC4.
While not wanting to do an on-camera interview, Mr. Bone off-camera told ABC4 this all started when he recently sold a baby Burmese Python snake to undercover U.P.D. officers after he was contacted by an officer on Facebook.
Det. Hansen was one of the responding officers that assisted in executing Friday’s search warrant. He explains what tipped police off. “One of the issues that came to our attention is just the amount of debris coming from the animals made the area kind of have an interesting smell to it,” he said.
According to court documents, in addition to the undercover purchase, Salt Lake County Animal Services verified to U.P.D. Bone hadn’t applied or obtained a permit for the snakes since 2017.
To these charges, Bone tells ABC4 “I was first notified in 2014 that I needed to comply with these permits, but in 2017 I never received a notice after that and thought my permits were up to date.”
“He’s arrested for selling exotic animals,” said Hansen. “It’s going to go on to some drug charges, and some other issues, but I think the initial part of this was selling the Burmese Pythons.”
Police say ten of the snakes were longer than ten feet long, while the others were ten feet and under.
Court documents state in addition to the animals, two containers of opiates, a gun, and $2,000 were also found.
Bone was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail but is now out on bond.