The investigation into the people believed to be responsible for hundreds of reptiles found living in squalid conditions last week has spread to a third location in Milwaukee, a Milwaukee police spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Officers found an alligator and a snake Monday inside a house in the 3300 block of S. Kinnickinnic Ave., police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said.
The alligator was frozen and the snake was dead, according to WTMJ-TV (Channel 4).
The house is listed in court records as the residence of Terry Cullen. Cullen has kept reptiles for years, has spoken at conventions for people who keep reptiles and has consulted with several local agencies that work with reptiles, including the Wisconsin Humane Society.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, Cullen said he has devoted his life to the conservation of reptiles.
“I have basically given my life to conservation, and I’ve been repaid with a shattered reputation and life,” he said.
Cullen, 60, said he is in the Milwaukee area and is “engaging in all appropriate and necessary legal endeavors relating to this case.”
Cullen has not been arrested, but police want to speak with him, Schwartz said.
Cullen’s girlfriend, 50-year-old Jane E. Flint, was arrested May 12 on suspicion of mistreating animals and violating regulations regarding endangered or threatened species.She has not yet been charged.
The case began last week when officers investigating a sexual assault complaint found at least 250 animals at two south side addresses.
Police haven’t identified the target of the assault investigation.
Dozens of animals, including anacondas, were found inside a house in the 3400 block of S. 17th St. Flint owns the house, according to Milwaukee property records.
Flint and Cullen are listed in tax records as running a nonprofit organization called Cullen Vivarium Wildlife Conservancy Inc. in a building at 2323 S. 13th St.
Police and officials from area zoos who searched that building last week found more than 200 animals, including at least 24 boa constrictors and more than a dozen crocodiles.
Hundreds of mice and rats blanketed the basement floor, and many of the animals – ranging from alligators to turtles – were unable to turn around because the containers in which they were kept were too small and filled with waste, according to an arrest report released last week.
Prosecutors could begin reviewing the case later this week, Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern said.
Three crocodiles and a 175-pound alligator snapping turtle are being housed temporarily at the Racine Zoo.
The rest of the animals are being kept in several locations that police have declined to identify.
Cullen said he was told most of the animals are being kept in unheated city garages. He said cold temperatures can harm the animals.
“To me, the utter cruelty is beyond belief,” he said of the treatment of the animals since they were discovered.
Schwartz responded in a statement:
“Milwaukee Police, with the help of accredited animal experts, removed these animals from the deplorable conditions in which they were being kept. The animals are now being held safely and in healthy environments, which was not the case when they were discovered during the search warrants.”