LAKEBAY, Wash. (Seattle area)
Animal control received a complaint about a person in Lakebay with an alligator. It is illegal to possess an alligator in the State of Washington. Animal control officers visited the property on Thursday and saw the alligator in a small tub inside of a shipping container.
A very sick baby cow and a mattress for the 32-year-old owner to sleep on were also inside the container. “The back half was a little living room and mattress on ground where the man was sleeping and it was free access for the gator to come in and out of the tub next to the man,” said Sgt Darren Moss Jr. PCSO Public Information Officer.
The officers returned the next day with a warrant to seize the animals however the calf and owner were gone but the alligator was still there and animal control along with sheriff's deputies were able to wrangle him into a van. Animal control believes the alligator has been living at the residence in the 17000 block of 29th St SW since at least 2017.
He was taken to the Tacoma Humane Society where a wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary met them to take custody of the gator.
The sheriff's office said the gator is in good health and will now spend the rest of his life in a large habitat.
LINK
Animal control received a complaint about a person in Lakebay with an alligator. It is illegal to possess an alligator in the State of Washington. Animal control officers visited the property on Thursday and saw the alligator in a small tub inside of a shipping container.
A very sick baby cow and a mattress for the 32-year-old owner to sleep on were also inside the container. “The back half was a little living room and mattress on ground where the man was sleeping and it was free access for the gator to come in and out of the tub next to the man,” said Sgt Darren Moss Jr. PCSO Public Information Officer.
The officers returned the next day with a warrant to seize the animals however the calf and owner were gone but the alligator was still there and animal control along with sheriff's deputies were able to wrangle him into a van. Animal control believes the alligator has been living at the residence in the 17000 block of 29th St SW since at least 2017.
He was taken to the Tacoma Humane Society where a wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary met them to take custody of the gator.
The sheriff's office said the gator is in good health and will now spend the rest of his life in a large habitat.
LINK
