Stolen rare lizard has been safely recovered, returned to Lexington pet store
The rare lizard stolen from Most Valuable Pets in Lexington was recovered Tuesday and is unharmed, according to local officials.
Nathan Mullikan, assistant director with Scott County Animal Care and Control, said the suspects who were seen on camera stealing the lizard attempted to drop off the monkey tail skink at the Scott County animal control building Tuesday morning. Mullikan said a couple of officers at the facility noticed the female suspect get out of a vehicle with a terrarium and drop off Petey at the doorstep.
The woman knocked on the door and ran back to the vehicle after leaving behind the terrarium, according to Mullikan. The officers attempted to stop her because it’s illegal to abandon an animal without paperwork, Mullikan said.
In the midst of that, other staff members saw a note in the terrarium saying, “please return to pet store in Lexington,” and determined the lizard was Petey.
“We kind of put two and two together and several officers went behind the vehicle to get their license plate and they were able to talk them into staying until the sheriff’s department could get here,” Mullikan said.
Mullikan said the suspects were cooperative after deciding not to flee.
Both suspects were cited by Lexington police for shoplifting $500 to $1,000, according to police. The male suspect, 30, was arrested on an unrelated shoplifting warrant, according to Lt. Mike Caudill from the Scott County Sheriff’s office.
Petey is a rare form of lizard which is originally from Madagascar. Most Valuable Pets manager Hannah Huffman said Petey is one of the very few captive-bred monkey tail skinks in the United States.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 2:18 PM.
