Owner of ‘Mr. Teeth’ Not Charged With Animal Cruelty

A Castro Valley man busted with 34 pounds of marijuana guarded by a 5-foot-long caiman in January will not face animal cruelty charges, according to the Hayward Daily Review.

The large reptile, named “Mr. Teeth” by his owner, was critically ill when authorities seized him from a home on the 19000 block of Mount Jasper Road and took him to the Oakland Zoo. It died the following day on Jan. 10.

According to the Daily Review, a necropsy at the Oakland Zoo determined that Mr. Teeth died from acute pneumonia. Officials could not determine when he got sick or who was responsible for his illness.

Owner Assif Mayar, 32, still faces felony drug charges.

Mayar, who lived with his wife and 2-year-old son, was arrested Jan. 8 when sheriff’s deputies responded to a tip that he was selling weed from his two story home. They found 34 pounds of pot, which was being guarded by Mr. Teeth. Mr. Teeth was kept in a 2-foot-by-8-foot tank in a bedroom.

According to the Daily Review, Mayar purchased the reptile when it was small in 1996 to commemorate the death of rapper Tupac Shakur. He fed it rats and did not take it out of its tank.

Police said Mr. Teeth was malnourished and was not kept in adequate living conditions, the Daily Review reports. Mayar also did not have the proper permit to own an exotic animal.

Mayar, who pleaded not guilty to the drug charges, is scheduled to appear in court on April 5.

In addition to the drug charge, Mayar was also cited with a misdemeanor of possessing a restricted-species live animal, the Daily Review reports.

Read the full Daily Review report here.