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Caveat: The following information was added to this site by Nigel.
Renaissance Reptiles was started by myself and my wife, Gail, in the late 1990s/early 2000s. As the business grew, our marriage - which had not been going well for many years - became increasingly acrimonious. In the summer of 2005, things began to worsen at an increasing pace.
Until August of 2005, we had never kept any kind of inventory of the collection; if I wanted to know what we had, I would look to see what was in the racks. In August of 2005, I was looking at the racks when I noticed that a significant number of tubs that should have held high-end baby ball pythons were, in fact, empty. Suspicious about the number of empty tubs, I spent several hours conducting a thorough inventory of the collection. I conducted a similar inventory one week later, and again one week after that. The result of these inventories was that in that two-week period, baby ball pythons worth about $25,000 had "disappeared". Subsequent investigation led me to discover that Gail had taken these animals and moved them to a facility owned by Kevin McCurley (hereinafter "Kevin") of New England Reptile Distributors (NERD).
Around that time, someone who I considered to be an extremely close friend informed me of the following:
- Gail and Kevin had gone to see a divorce attorney together;
- Gail and Kevin had concocted a plan to get me and my son out of the house for a weekend, at which time they planned to remove the entire Renaissance Reptiles collection from its location in MA, and move it to the NERD facility in NH.
In August of 2005, I filed for divorce from Gail.
In September of 2005, the Probate Court issued an order directing the following:
- How the business was to be run;
- How the business bills were to be paid;
- How the household bills were to be paid;
- How the business profits were to be divided.
In October of 2005, Gail obtained a restraining order against me, and had me removed from the house. At this point, it is probably worth mentioning that the house was solely in my name, and both mortgages on the house were solely in my name. Despite the court order dated September, 2005, once I was removed from the house, Gail stopped paying all of the bills: the mortgages, the utilities, everything. Additionally, despite the fact that the business had been very profitable, Gail began claiming that the business was now losing nearly $4,000 per month.
In November of 2005, in an effort to generate income in order to pay the business and household bills, I attempted to find a buyer for some of the business inventory. A friend, who I had done business with on several occasions, said he had a buyer for some of the animals, which I turned over to him. Within hours, Gail, Kevin, and Kara (from NERD) began claiming that these animals had been "stolen". According to their claims, many of the "stolen" animals belonged to NERD; this was a lie. Kingsnake was apparently informed that the animals had been "stolen", and proceeded to publish a "Stolen Snake Alert" across its website. These animals were never stolen; they were marital property (which, incidentally, I paid for), and were subject to the terms of the court order dated September, 2005. Perhaps realizing they would not generate much support from the ball python community if they told the truth that "Nigel has marital property that Gail and NERD want to get their hands on", Gail and NERD chose to perpetrate a lie and deceive the ball python community by claiming these animals were stolen. At the time, court orders restricting what we were and were not to do prevented me from commenting on this fraudulent representation; Gail was bound by the same court orders, but she chose to ignore them.
I could easily spend hours detailing the events that subsequently occurred, but for the purposes of this update, some of the more significant events are listed below.
In November of 2005, the "stolen" animals were subsequently handed over to Gail by the person who was holding them.
Gail continued to refuse to pay any of the bills associated with the house. In July of 2006, the house was sold at foreclosure auction.
In July of 2006, my attorney conducted a deposition of Kevin. Under oath, Kevin testified to the following:
- In the late spring or summer of 2005, Kevin went to a divorce attorney with Gail;
- In May or June of 2006, Gail paid Kevin $25 to retain him as an expert witness for the divorce case;
- In May of 2006, Kevin purchased two Spiders and a Ghost from Gail, for about $2,000. When asked why he would do this when he has so many Spiders of his own to sell, Kevin replied that he was "trying to help her [Gail] and give her some money". (During her deposition, however, Gail contradicted Kevin's testimony by testifying under oath that Kevin had purchased $6,000-worth of snakes from her);
- When asked "Who owns Renaissance Reptiles?", Kevin replied "I believe it is in her [Gail's] name, but I thought it was still a marriage asset". Apparently, the animals that Kevin considered "stolen" in November of 2005, were now considered by him to be a "marriage asset";
- Kevin had the following to say about the state of the reptile market: "As I am experiencing in my business right now, the market is dead. I have just a very difficult time selling animals and I am waiting, it is a very very hard time right now and I am very disillusioned with the business to the point where I'm downsizing and I'm possibly thinking about getting out to some degree." I wonder if Kevin has told any of his customers that "the market is dead" and that he is "downsizing" and "possibly thinking of getting out to some degree"...??? I'm betting not.
During the latter part of 2006, Gail moved the remainder of the Renaissance Reptiles collection to NERD. (As it turns out, much of the Renaissance Reptiles collection was already at NERD by that time).
During late 2006 through much of 2007, Gail testified on several occasions that the entire Renaissance Reptiles collection was either dead or dying. The reasons that Gail stated to the Court, and to the court-appointed Special Master, are as follows:
- NERD's facility was riddled with Aspergillus mold, and the Renaissance Reptiles collection had been decimated from exposure to this mold;
- NERD's water supply was contaminated with Cryptosporidium, and the Renaissance Reptiles collection had been further decimated from exposure to this pathogen;
- Gail did not have any rodents to feed the Renaissance Reptiles collection; all she had were a few frozen rats that Kevin "generously" gave her from time to time; animals were dying from starvation.
Apparently, according to Gail, whatever animals survived the Aspergillus and the Cryptosporidium at NERD, succumbed to starvation.
On several occasions, Gail testified to the Court, and to the court-appointed Special Master, that Kevin had been selling Renaissance Reptiles animals to NERD customers. According to Gail's statements, she did not know who the animals had been sold to, and the buyers did not know that the animals were Renaissance Reptiles animals. An obvious inference to be made from Gail's assertions regarding the Renaissance Reptiles collection housed at NERD, is that anyone purchasing a ball python from NERD may have, in fact, purchased a Renaissance Reptiles animal that was sick. Additionally, if Gail is to be believed, there is a distinct likelihood that many NERD animals may have been similarly afflicted by Aspergillus and/or Cryptosporidium.
In March of 2007, the Probate Court gave me my divorce. As part of the divorce decree, the Probate Court made the following findings:
- The house was sold at foreclosure auction after Gail stopped making the mortgage payments and household utility bills;
- Gail was the only one with access to the Renaissance Reptiles bank account;
- From April of 2004 through March of 2005, Gail withdrew $52,800 in cash from the Renaissance Reptiles bank account without my knowledge.
In April of 2007, the Probate Court appointed a Special Master charged with the responsibility of inventorying and liquidating the assets of Renaissance Reptiles. The Special Master is the only person with the authority to sell or authorize the sale of Renaissance Reptiles assets. Be advised that anyone purchasing Renaissance Reptiles animals or equipment either from Gail or NERD run the risk of having their purchase seized by the Special Master. If you are considering a purchase from NERD, ask the following questions:
- Is this a Renaissance Reptiles animal...???
- Has this animal been exposed to the Aspergillus that Gail states was widespread at NERD...???
- Has this animal been exposed to the Cryptosporidium that Gail states was in the NERD water supply...???
Stay tuned for further updates coming soon...
Pictures - you will NOT want to miss these...!!!
Why you may NEVER hatch visibles from your NERD "hets"...
What you may not know about the "het. Black" ball pythons sold by NERD in the early 2000s...
And more...
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