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Buenos Aires 'Missing Boa' Turns Out to Be Dog‑Walker’s Viral Ad

Authorities opened a police and environmental prosecutor inquiry after neighborhood flyers and WhatsApp messages prompted searches and complaints that later were admitted to be a publicity stunt.

Overview

  • The episode began with flyers in Colegiales claiming a family’s three‑plus‑metre boa escaped from a terrace on Thursday and prompted searches near Céspedes and Zapiola.
  • The Fiscalía Especializada en Medio Ambiente y Maltrato Animal ordered verification by Comisaría Vecinal 13C and the División Delitos Ambientales after at least three neighbors filed complaints.
  • Reporters tracing the flyers found a second promotional leaflet that offered dog‑walking services while people stayed home because of the alleged snake and linked the notices to a single phone number.
  • When contacted by authorities the young dog‑walker who answered admitted there was never a lost boa and said the campaign was intended as advertising, a confession that has deepened resident anger and could prompt legal action.
  • Experts and coverage stressed safety and legal context: the species named, boa de las vizcacheras, is non‑venomous but large, people should keep distance and notify environmental patrols, and Argentina’s Ley Nº 22.421 restricts private possession of wild fauna.