Who does the snake actually belong to?

[Robin3760]

What is the name of your state? AL

I went in to business with a reptile breader. He had this 8 foot boa constrictor that he had gotten from a lady that owns a pet store. The original plan was that he was going to try and breed the snake for her and she would provide the food for the snake while he had it. Then if the snake did produce babies she would get a part of the profits from him selling the babies.
Well, the snake never had babies and we never herd from the lady that originally owned the snake. She never provided food for it. A year whent by and the reptile breeder got out of business. He gave me the snake. I have had it about 6 months.
Now the lady finds out I have it and wants to all of a sudden try and breed it herself. She wants it back. She has called me and now is going by my work.
My point is I have had it this long and she has never provided for its care. She has said she would buy it back from me to cover what I have spent on it. I am not sure what I should do. She acts like I have to accept her offer. Neither one of us can get in touch with the reptile breeder now.
Does she still have any rights to the snake?

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

You said you went into business with the breeder, so I'm assuming the agreement was made with you also?

 

[Robin3760]

What is the name of your state? AL

I went in to business with a reptile breader. He had this 8 foot boa constrictor that he had gotten from a lady that owns a pet store. The original plan was that he was going to try and breed the snake for her and she would provide the food for the snake while he had it. Then if the snake did produce babies she would get a part of the profits from him selling the babies.
Well, the snake never had babies and we never herd from the lady that originally owned the snake. She never provided food for it. A year whent by and the reptile breeder got out of business. He gave me the snake. I have had it about 6 months.
Now the lady finds out I have it and wants to all of a sudden try and breed it herself. She wants it back. She has called me and now is going by my work.
My point is I have had it this long and she has never provided for its care. She has said she would buy it back from me to cover what I have spent on it. I am not sure what I should do. She acts like I have to accept her offer. Neither one of us can get in touch with the reptile breeder now.
Does she still have any rights to the snake?

We never had any paper work drawn up about our partnership. It did not last long enough. When he decided not to do it anymore he sold most of the reptiles and gave me a part of the money and he gave me the snake in question.

 

[fairisfair]

obviously, the little snake was not the "reptile breeder's" (Big Snake's) to give away. You are lucky that the woman is willing to pay you your costs for the last year. You are in possession of a kidnapped snake.

Give her back her snake.

 

[Robin3760]

Fair Is Fair? Is It Really Fair?

I just find it hard to believe that she did not live up to her side of the agreement with providing food (or anything else) for the snake for a year and a half and then show back up and be able to just get it back.

 

[stephenk]

What isn't fair? She has offered to pay for the costs of taking care of the snake, right? That was the original deal to begin with.

 

[Robin3760]

It is not really about the money now. What if I wanted to keep it? Does she still have a legal right to claim the snake after all this time?

 

[stephenk]

Sure she does. What did you do to try and locate her for the past year?

 

[howamidoing]

Ok Let Me Break This Down For You.....

I will try to make this easy for you. Okay, say your neighbor borrows your car. He, in turn, loans it out to someone else. They enjoy it and drive it for a year. You provide no maintenace or gas in that year, they dont try very hard to "find" you to return it, as they are enjoying YOUR car. YOU "find" them. Is it your car? Should it be returned to you? Same Thing! Give the lady back her snake, OR counteroffer with an offer to Buy HER snake. You are in posession of stolen property in my opinion.

 

[Robin3760]

Well. as for as trying to locate the woman, myself and the reptile breeder had contact with the woman for the first six months we had the snake. She never ask about it. She had both of mine and the reptile breeders phone numbers.
I think this snake is a little different than a car. I seen these snakes selling lately for around $175.00.
She wanted to get red of the snake in the first place because it kept striking at everybody there. Some how the reptile breeder agreed to try and breedthe snake and she would provide the food for it.
I look at it like a dog. Say this friend had this dog she did not want anymore but you agreed to try and breed the dog with one of your dogs to get some puppies for you to sell and the both of you would split the money.
She agreed to buy food for the dog while you had it. Well, you take the dog and never hear from her. A year and a half goes by and your spending money on this dog and getting attached(yes, you can get attached to a snake).
Then all of a sudden she shows up and wants the dog back to try and breed with another dog she now has.
When she first contacted me about the snake I told her she needed to work it out with the reptile breeder and when he contacted me about the snake and wanted it back then I would give it back to him. He is the one I got it from. To me, they should have the problem because he does not have her snake any more.

 

[JessiJC]

I am in agreeance with Robin. Possession is 9/10 of the law & she has been in possession of the animal for quite some time. If you live with a person for 7 years, you are legally married to them. I would think that the period of time for a pet is substantially less. If you want to clear your conscience of stealing the snake, then offer to pay her a reasonable price (less the cost of caring for it for the past year or so). Other than that, her dispute is with the man she originally handed the snake to. When he had no more use for it & couldn't get ahold of her to give it back, she forfeited her stake on the animal. I would demand a very legitimate reason plus compensation if I were in the situation & were even considering giving it to the woman.

 

[gawm]

Sounds like she abandoned the snake to me.

 

[stephenk]

I am in agreeance with Robin. Possession is 9/10 of the law & she has been in possession of the animal for quite some time. If you live with a person for 7 years, you are legally married to them. I would think that the period of time for a pet is substantially less. If you want to clear your conscience of stealing the snake, then offer to pay her a reasonable price (less the cost of caring for it for the past year or so). Other than that, her dispute is with the man she originally handed the snake to. When he had no more use for it & couldn't get ahold of her to give it back, she forfeited her stake on the animal. I would demand a very legitimate reason plus compensation if I were in the situation & were even considering giving it to the woman.

Do you really believe the stuff you typed?

 

[justalayman]

Do you really believe the stuff you typed?

the scary part is (s)he probably does.

I do believe the OP may have a case for abandonment of the animal but due to the prejudice involved, we will never get the complete and clear story to make that call.

Tell the former owner to sue you for it and let the judge decide.

 

[Ohiogal]

I am in agreeance with Robin. Possession is 9/10 of the law & she has been in possession of the animal for quite some time. If you live with a person for 7 years, you are legally married to them. I would think that the period of time for a pet is substantially less. If you want to clear your conscience of stealing the snake, then offer to pay her a reasonable price (less the cost of caring for it for the past year or so). Other than that, her dispute is with the man she originally handed the snake to. When he had no more use for it & couldn't get ahold of her to give it back, she forfeited her stake on the animal. I would demand a very legitimate reason plus compensation if I were in the situation & were even considering giving it to the woman.

WHAT are you smoking? you are wrong about living with someone makes you legally married -- I dont care HOW LONG you are living with them. There is no magic wand that says POOF you are married.
As for the rest of your argument, you are also wrong. It has nothing to do with possession in this case.