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Reptile in HOI Fair exhibit now with animal welfare authorities

PEORIA -- An alligator is missing from the reptile exhibit at the Heart of Illinois Fair.
The 2-foot-long American alligator belonged to Jason Johnson of Peoria, who insisted Thursday the reptile was taken unjustly Tuesday by Peoria County Animal Control officers.

Johnson said he does not know why they removed it from his exhibit.

"They won't return my calls," he said. "It's like it's top secret."

Johnson guessed the removal had something to do with his permit, which is for an American "alligator," the species he said he owns. He suspects officials believe he really owns an American "crocodile," an endangered species.

According to Johnson, an Animal Control officer came to the exhibit to look at the reptile before the fair opened Monday. The officer returned Tuesday with an agent from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and confiscated the reptile - tank and all. Johnson was not present either time.

The alligator apparently now sits inside the Peoria Animal Welfare Shelter, but Johnson said officials there won't return it to him.

No Animal Control or DNR officials could be reached for comment Thursday night.

Eileen Frye, the fair's general manager, had heard about the confiscated alligator but said the dispute is between Johnson and the people who took it.

Johnson simply wants the creature back. "Something's not right, it's just not right," he said. "It's just all around sucky."

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/071406/TRI_BACKQ949.044.shtml
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Jason & Danica
Don't wanna wait 'til tomorrow Why put it off another day? One by one, little problems Build up, and stand in our way. Oh One step ahead, one step behind it Now ya gotta run to get even Make future plans I'll dream about yesterday, hey! Come on turn, turn this thing around (Right now) Hey! It's your tomorrow (Right now) Come on, it's everything (Right now) Catch your magic moment (Right now) Catch your magic moment Do it right here and now Do it right here and now, IT MEANS EVERYTHING (Van Halen, Right Now)

So am I still waiting for this world to stop hating/Can't find a good reason, can't find hope to believe in/...You can't change the state of the nation we just need/ some motivation...So am I still waiting for this world to stop hating(Sum41 Still Waiting)

Classic Dums frozen feeders

JOURNAL STAR (Peoria, Illinois) 15 July 06 Grabbed gator now in state custody - Loose legal ends tie up reptile from Heart of Illinois Fair exhibit (Emily Anderson)
Peoria: Rumors of illegal sales and permit problems led to the confiscation of an alligator at the Heart of Illinois Fair, according to Bill Motteler of the Peoria Animal Welfare Shelter.
Motteler said he and a fellow animal- control officer followed orders Tuesday to transport a 2-foot American alligator from Jason Johnson's reptile exhibit to the animal shelter.
"We had a call that they were selling alligators down at the fair, which is illegal, so we just went out to investigate it, and we were told by the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) to go ahead and confiscate if we saw any alligators," Motteler said Friday.
It is illegal to sell an American alligator, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Web site.
Earlier in the week, Motteler said a local veterinarian told him someone had called the office seeking help for an alligator that "wasn't doing well." The veterinarian declined to treat the alligator, which the man said he bought at the fair.
Motteler also heard that fliers advertising alligators for sale were handed out at the fair, although he was not sure whether they were from Johnson or from a Florida man who brought two alligators to the reptile exhibit. The Florida vendor left the fair Monday.
Motteler said the DNR asked PAWS to hold the alligator until they could check the legality of Johnson's operation and permit.
Johnson insisted Thursday that the reptile was taken unjustly and without an explanation. He said he could not get anyone to call him back with information on when, or if, he could retrieve it.
Sgt. Tim Sickmeyer, acting chief of the DNR's investigation unit, said Johnson needs a specific permit to possess an American alligator because they are listed on the federal endangered species list as a threatened animal. Sickmeyer said Johnson has yet to present his permit to the DNR.
The alligator was housed at PAWS for 48 hours and is now in the DNR's custody. Motteler said he just did what the DNR and the Department of Agriculture told him to do, and has nothing more to do with the investigation or the alligator.
"It's between Jason and the DNR now," Motteler said.
Sickmeyer confirmed the DNR has the alligator, but did not say when or if it would be returned to Johnson.
Sickmeyer would not comment on the investigation, which is being conducted with the federal government, until its end. He wasn't sure when that would be.
Friday's Journal Star told Johnson's side of the story, which Sickmeyer doesn't agree with.
"All I can tell you is that made for good reading, his comments," said Sickmeyer. "Let's just say we obviously have a different view of things than he does."
Grabbed gator now in state custody