Coral Springs is holding an Exotic Pets Amnesty Day on Saturday during which people can bring over weird animals not native to Florida and drop them off.
Why?
Well, because Florida has an invasive-species problem.
There's lionfish, pythons, dog-killing pythons, giant snails, a weird exotic lizard known as a tegus, and HERPES MONKEYS.
And that's just a short list.
All these species were introduced into our backyard via people bringing them over from their natural habitats.
Some, like the giant snails, for example, are brought over for religious reasons, but most because people like to have exotic animals as pets.
But a lot of people either neglect to keep the pets caged properly and lose them. Or they grow tired of having to care for and feed a weird animal that has no business living anywhere other than the forest or jungle or body of water where they came from.
And so, these people release these animals, not accounting for the fact that the animals -- much like people -- get horny and hungry. The animals then meet these needs out in the wild and -- boom -- we got lionfish eating everything in Florida waters and screwing up the ecosystem.
So event organizers say that if you're one of these people, you can bring your unwanted exotic pet and drop it off on Saturday, no questions asked.
It isn't clear what happens to the animals once they're turned in, although the organizers are also offering anyone interested in adopting an exotic animal the chance to do so. Which kind of defeats the purpose.
Honestly, the real solution would be to kill the animals and move on, for the sake of our state's environment and animals.
The event is taking place at the Sawgrass Nature Center, 3000 Sportsplex Drive, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in cooperation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
If you're one of those interested in adopting a boa constrictor or whatever weirdo animal is dropped off, you'll need to register here.
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