Authorities seize alligator illegally held in home near Buffalo

The alligator’s name was Albert Edward.

He was 11 feet tall, 700 pounds and 34 years old, and until this week he lived in a pool house next to his owner’s home in Hamburg, N.Y., about 13 miles south of Buffalo.

But the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation removed Albert from his home on Wednesday after determining he was being held there illegally. said in a Facebook post.

The alligator’s owner had built an addition to his home where Albert lived in an in-ground pool, according to the department. The agency also said the owner had let people, including children, play in the pool with Albert, who is blind in both eyes and has a back injury.

According to a statement from the department, it is illegal to own an alligator in New York unless you have a permit. But those licenses are only for “scientific, educational, exhibition, zoological or propagation purposes” department website said.

“To be clear, even if the owner is properly licensed, public contact with the animal is prohibited and is grounds for revocation of the permit and relocation of the animal,” the department said in the statement.

The agency said Albert’s owner, Tony Cavallaro, had a permit for the alligator, but it expired in 2021. In an interview, Mr. Cavallaro, 64, said that while visitors to his home sometimes took photos with Albert, they never swam with him or rode him. Instead, they went into the water briefly for a quick photo with the animal, often while it was sleeping, Mr. Cavallaro said.

“I did everything by the book the whole time,” he said. “They changed the rules, and I should be grandfathered in. I shouldn’t have to stick to it.”

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation adopted new rules for ownership of alligators and other dangerous animals in 2020, an agency spokesperson said. The department notified Mr. Cavallaro of these changes and required updates to the alligator’s enclosure, but said Mr. Cavallaro had not made the necessary adjustments.

Mr Cavallaro said he would have had to spend $15,000 to put up a fence around his garden and even more for zoo insurance, while Albert was already covered by his personal insurance. Mr. Cavallaro claims he sent paperwork to the department, but the agency said it was not enough.

When it comes to Albert’s health problems, Mr Cavallaro said they can be attributed to both his old age and his species; alligators often develop cataracts. “He’s always had problems with his eyes,” he said.

The department took the alligator to a licensed caretaker who will care for Albert until he can be transported to a permanent facility, the Facebook post said, adding that charges against Mr. Cavallaro are being considered.

Mr. Cavallaro said he bought Albert at a reptile show in Columbus, Ohio, in August 1990, when the alligator was just born. Mr. Cavallaro is a reptile enthusiast who at one point owned more than 100 reptiles, he said, but caring for them was too much work. Since he gave up the last of his snakes sixteen years ago, it has been just him and Albert. Till Wednesday.

“The poor thing loves me,” said Mr. Cavallaro. “He was scared.”

Mr Cavallaro said he treated Albert like a child and wanted to be reunited with him quickly.

“I hope I can get him back, that’s all,” he said.