Penelope, the snake, spent a month riding the rails. Now her owner is being asked to pay $650 for snake retrieval and clean up.
Melissa Moorhouse was riding the subway when her pet boa, Penelope, went missing. Melissa notified the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the car was searched. No Penelope!
Fast forward one month. A commuter spots Penelope on the red line. The train car is taken out of service and searched. Penelope is found. Yippee! Snake and owner are reunited!
Melissa's happiness, however, doesn't last long. She is now being billed $650 for the expense of searching the train and sanitizing the car.
Link
Melissa Moorhouse was riding the subway when her pet boa, Penelope, went missing. Melissa notified the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the car was searched. No Penelope!
Fast forward one month. A commuter spots Penelope on the red line. The train car is taken out of service and searched. Penelope is found. Yippee! Snake and owner are reunited!
Melissa's happiness, however, doesn't last long. She is now being billed $650 for the expense of searching the train and sanitizing the car.
“To rid the subway car of any traces of germs such as salmonella, which may have been left by your snake, MBTA maintenance crews had to scrub and disinfect the Red Line car in which your snake was found,” wrote Wesley Wallace, MBTA Treasurer.
Link
I wouldn't complain about the bill. That's the cost of pet ownership. The cost actually seems fairly low for city work.