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Owners drop off exotic animals during pet amnesty day

Posted at 9:20 AM, Aug 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-20 09:20:55-04

FWC teamed up with the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium and hosted an exotic pet amnesty day in West Palm Beach Sunday.

Pet owners dropped off a variety of animals, no questions asked.

The event is designed to allow owners to surrender their pets even if they are unlicensed or being kept illegally.

More than 3,000 animals have been surrendered since 2006, according to FWC.

"Man, I needed the space in the garage and I didn't want to just give them away to someone that wasn't going to take care of him like I did so I figured, I saw this event happening, so I said. 'cool man.' Worked out perfect, said Manny Lenis who was among those dropping off pets.

Donated pets are adopted by pre-approved candidates to help protect Florida's ecosystem from non-native species.