WCCO reports Scott Nellis has more than 400 snakes and exotic reptiles. Coon Rapids officials say a city ordinance prohibits the unusual collection and he needs to downsize.

Police say a man entered his ex-girlfriend's home in Woodbury and ripped the head off her pet snake. He faces felony charges including burglary, terroristic threats and torturing animals.

Henry Atherton is charged with felony mistreatment of animals by torture. Authorities found 32 dead snakes in a storage locker near Dilworth last week. According to the criminal complaint, the 49-year-old told investigators he bought the snakes in Florida and intended to sell them.

The clinic has received a $2.5 million grant to study the possibility of using snake venom to reduce the damage from heart attacks.

A 15-year-old Coon Rapids student says he wears a rosary as a necklace to feel close to his grandmother, who is suffering from breast cancer. But the Anoka-Hennepin School District told him to remove it.

The new parent company of Fashion Bug is closing the 600 remaining stores by early 2013, including locations in Apple Valley, Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids, Elk River, Hudson and Shakopee. Last year, 124 Fashion Bug stores were closed.

The lawyer for a Dakota County dog breeder says the puppies his client allegedly drowned were not pets. He maintains "commercial" animals are subject to a different set of rules than pets. Dayna Bell faces 14 felony and two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.