Pets are like family for many, but on Saturday, some chose to say goodbye to their animals.
"I've had my snake for nine years, I'm going to miss her, but it's peace of mind knowing she's going to be taken care of," pet owner Albert Gonzalez said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and other organizations hosted an Exotic Pet Amnesty Day. At this event, exotic animal owners dropped off their unwanted pets.
"Some of those animals have become illegal to possess so we had to offer an opportunity for peopole who had them to surrender them with no questions asked. This program also finds homes for exotic animals that have just outgrown their owners," said Liz Barraco with the FWC.
Sugargliders, bearded dragons, and snakes were brought in all sorts of tanks and boxes, but turtles seemed to be the most popular.
"It got too big and it's a lot to take care of," said Sonia Hankin, who dropped of her pet turtle.
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Others did not know they needed permits to own their exotic pets.
"I found out that they're not native to Florida, and that they need to have a permit in order to have it at the house," Edgar Rivera said.
Many of these exotic animals will have a new home very soon. Most of them can be adopted for free.
"Everyone who can adopt has already filled out applications ahead of time, we've done background checks and things like that," Barraco said.
To fill out an application to adopt an exotic animal click here.
