Victim Kept Poison Snakes Illegally, Agency Says

A Van Nuys woman who died this week after apparently being bitten by a pet viper did not have permits for her snakes, the California Department of Fish and Game said Friday.

Officials would have confiscated the snakes and fined Anita Finch had they known of the reptiles, said Fish and Game Warden Bruce Toloski.

The poisonous snakes were killed and sent to the coroner’s office, where medical examiners will determine which animal killed Finch, said Jackie David, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. The nonvenomous pets were taken to an animal rescue group.

Several of the 11 caged snakes Finch had--a Gaboon viper, which may have bitten her, a hognosed sand viper and two copperheads--are illegal to possess without permits, Toloski said. Finch also lacked permits for her six piranhas, he said.

The snake fancier was found dead with two puncture wounds on the back of her hand, authorities said, and the marks suggest that the attack may have come from the rare, foot-long Gaboon viper.

People cannot keep nonnative venomous snakes without an exhibitor permit, which costs about $290, Toloski said. To get a permit, the applicant must be affiliated with an institution such as a zoo or museum, he added.

Finch, 33, did not meet that criterion, although she was taking a Los Angeles Zoo animal keeper class. She was among 40 students out of 200 selected to continue in the program, according to Jennie McNary, curator of mammals at the zoo.

“She was very inquisitive. After each lecture, she would always ask more questions,” McNary said. “She had a very strong interest to work with exotic animals.”

Toloski said it usually takes a tip from a neighbor to find out about people who are illegally keeping snakes.

Charlene McMorris, resident manager at the Vicabob Trailer Village, where Finch lived, said Finch worried about city animal control officers discovering her snakes.

McMorris said she never told authorities about the snakes to protect Finch.

“That would’ve broken her heart,” she said.