Home Scandal and Gossip Owner of escaped NC cobra faces 36 charges

Owner of escaped NC cobra faces 36 charges

SHARE
Christopher Gifford Raleigh NC
Christopher Gifford Raleigh, North Carolina snake lover charged following venomous cobra escaping his home.
Christopher Gifford Raleigh NC
Christopher Gifford Raleigh, North Carolina snake lover charged following venomous cobra escaping his home.

Christopher Gifford Raleigh, North Carolina snake lover charged following venomous cobra escaping his home. Love affair with dangerous reptiles. 

The owner of a venomous cobra that slipped out of a North Carolina home last month is facing dozens of criminal charges following the deadly snake’s slippery escape, police said.

Christopher Michael Gifford, 21, of Raleigh, was booked with 36 misdemeanor counts for allowing his zebra cobra to flee the basement of his parents’ home, the Charlotte Observer reported.

The zebra cobra — which are native to Africa and can spit venom up to nine feet — was spotted on a porch on June 28 before it was captured about a half-mile away from Gifford’s home by Raleigh animal control officers two days later.

Police searched Gifford’s home and removed something in a large plastic bucket on June 29, one day before the snake was corralled.

Gifford’s TikTok account, which has nearly 500,000 followers, features dozens of videos of him handling venomous snakes. They include a green mamba that bit him in March — requiring anti-venom from a South Carolina zoo, the Observer reported last month.

Escaped Raleigh NC venomous cobra snake
Pictured, escaped Raleigh NC venomous cobra snake which had been on the loose prior to its eventual capture.

Thrill seeker

‘In all honesty I shouldn’t have lived and I thank God that I’m here today,‘ Gifford wrote on a Facebook group called The Venom Interviews, which detailed the bite to his left hand.

Gifford is facing 36 misdemeanor counts for keeping venomous snakes in improper enclosures and three charges for having them in mislabeled containers. He was also charged for not notifying police of the escaped cobra, as required by state law, the Observer reported.

North Carolina is one of only six states that don’t ban private ownership of venomous snakes or require a permit to have them. Nevertheless the state does have regulations on how they should be kept, as well as on reporting escaped animals.

Snakes must also be kept in escape-proof enclosures with locks on them and labels indicating they are venomous, the Observer reported.

Raleigh City Council Member David Knight said he plans to introduce an ordinance restricting ownership of wild animals, including venomous snakes, following the cobra’s escape. Police have not said exactly when Gifford’s pet got out, according to the Observer.

State Sen. Wiley Nickel, meanwhile, said he plans to propose legislation creating a new state law in coming weeks, reportedly saying the incident was a ‘wake-up call.’

Gifford, meanwhile, referred inquiries to his attorney, the Associated Press reported.

Christopher Gifford Raleigh NC
Pictured, Christopher Gifford Raleigh NC snake lover. Image via social media.

Alarm caused

The snake lover is remorseful and understands the panic the escaped cobra caused to neighbors, attorney Anna Felts said, adding that 75 other snakes, including some venomous species, were removed from Gifford’s home last week.

Residents of the neighborhood where the snake had been on the loose said they were worried about their children and pets.

‘It is pretty alarming,’ Mark Pavlic told WRAL. ‘It seems like a pretty dangerous snake, and dogs like to sniff the grass and check things out. It’s an extreme worry.’

Gifford is scheduled to appear in court on the charges on Aug. 6.

SHARE