Police Find 4-Foot Alligator in Connecticut Apartment

New Haven officers responding to a minor
dispute got a surprise when they found a 4-foot alligator living as a
family pet inside a city apartment, police said Wednesday.

Officers were called to the Ferry Street
apartment Tuesday night when a resident reported that an acquaintance
was trying to kick down his door in a dispute about money.


Once that woman was arrested, the officers
turned their attention to the other pressing matter at hand: the 4-foot
American alligator they spotted living inside the apartment, which is
located in one of New Haven's most densely populated neighborhoods.




Although it is not illegal to own alligators, state Department
of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesman Dwayne Gardner said
Wednesday it is "strongly discouraged" because of their potential size,
strength and temperament.


DEEP wildlife officers came to the apartment
Tuesday night at the request of New Haven police to remove the
alligator, which the resident willingly relinquished. Gardner said
Wednesday it would be moved to a wildlife sanctuary in Florida, and the
owner is not expected to face charges unless officials determine it was
subjected to cruel treatment or endangered anyone.


Connecticut updated its laws in 2009 to ban
private ownership of primates that weigh 35 pounds or more at maturity,
along with several species of wild animals such as bears, leopards and
wolves.


That legislation stemmed from a February 2009 attack in which Charla Nash,
a Stamford woman, was critically injured by her friend's rampaging
200-pound chimpanzee. Police later shot the animal to death as it
cornered an officer in his cruiser.


Lawmakers considered adding alligators,
crocodiles and other large reptiles to their list of banned pets, but
that version of the legislation was scrapped because critics said it was
too broad and banned too many kinds of animals.


The laws don't apply to zoos, sanctuaries, nature centers, museums and similar regulated facilities.
Gardner said the DEEP has drawn up draft regulations that would ban
alligators, crocodiles and caymans, another kind of reptile, from
private ownership. DEEP officials will present the proposal in January
to a legislative committee that reviews state agencies' regulations and
determines whether to let them go into effect.


The American alligator found Tuesday night
in New Haven belongs to a species that averages between 8 and 11 feet
long at maturity, depending on its gender, though some have been
recorded at 14 feet.


The man listed by police as the apartment's resident could not immediately be reached Wednesday for comment.
Source

Alligator Swag. Pitbulls are soooo last year.

Crikey.