Foto: New York Department of Environmental Conservation, AP
According to the authorities, the owner let children swim in the pool with 340-kilogram Albert.
Saturday 16 March at 02:19
The Ministry of Environmental Protection in the US state of New York has seized Albert the alligator this week.
It happened in a home in the city of Hamburg south of the big city of Buffalo on Wednesday 13 March.
– We heard that the owner of the house had had an extension made to the house and installed a built-in swimming pool to house the around 30-year-old alligator, writes the Ministry of the Environment on their websites.
Albert weighs around 340 kilos.
– Without permission, he allegedly let people go into the water to pet the alligator, which was not secured, they add.
Foto: New York Department of Environmental Conservation, AP
According to news agency AP should the owner also have allowed children to pet the alligator.
The owner: – He is like family
Owner Tony Cavallaro has spoken to locals 7 News Buffalo. He says that he has had the alligator, whose name is Albert, since 1990. Then he was just a baby.
He confirms that children have posed for pictures in the pool with the alligator in the background, but says that it has not happened often.
– I’m Albert’s dad, and that’s all. He is like family to everyone, he says.
Neighbors also react to the matter.
– He didn’t have alligator gatherings or parties. He’s just a really nice guy who loves that alligator and treats it well, Laura Lautner says of Tony Cavallaro.
She lives right next to the alligator house in Hamburg, and describes Albert as calm and kind.
– He swims in the pool, lies on the platform by the pool, eats chicken and doesn’t bother anyone.
– Has health problems
Cavallaro previously had permission to own the alligator, but this expired in 2021 and has not been renewed.
The authorities have handed Albert over to experts who will look after him until they find a new, permanent place to live.
– The alligator has several health problems. It is blind in both eyes and has problems with the spinal cord, the authorities write.
Owner Tony tells 7 News he is giving the alligator eye medicine. He does not agree that Albert has problems with his back.
Alligators are the largest reptiles in the United States. They can attack people, and deaths occasionally occur, writes Store Norske Leksikon.
2024-03-16 01:19:50
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