SEOUL - A man in his 20s was booked after he was found allegedly abandoning hundreds of pet reptiles in his rented apartment, with many of them dead, according to police on Nov 4.

       The man is being investigated for breaking the law under the Animal Protection Act, according to a police station in Cheongju.

       The police said they received a report on Oct 11 from a landlord of an apartment in the city’s Bokdae-dong neighbourhood. The landlord said he had been unable to contact his tenant for several months.

       Upon entering the apartment, officers found 80 geckos and 15 snakes dead inside the house.

       A total of 152 lizards and four snakes remain alive, although they appear to be in poor health. The surviving reptiles were sent to an animal shelter.

       The shelter said the reptiles had been abandoned for about two months based on the state of their carcasses.

       After the police report, the tenant reportedly contacted his landlord, claiming he had left the area to work in another city due to financial difficulties. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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