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TRIBUNE-REVIEW (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 08 August 03 Man with alligator may face charges (Daniel Reynolds)
The owner of a 4-foot alligator could face criminal charges after taking the animal back to his house, Wilkinsburg police said Thursday.
Arthur Thomas, 23, of Rebecca Avenue in Wilkinsburg, where officials confiscated the alligator on Tuesday, brought the reptile back to his home after reclaiming it from Triangle Pet Control Service Co. Inc. of McKees Rocks on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Paul McIntyre, kennel manager with Triangle Pet, said Thomas paid $76 to reclaim the reptile about 3 p.m. Wednesday and was told not to bring the alligator back to Wilkinsburg.
Animal control officers yesterday returned the alligator to the custody of Triangle Pet.
"We have a hold on (the alligator)," McIntyre said. "Thomas is) not getting him back now."
Thomas could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Wilkinsburg police Lt. Todd Ruggierio said Sgt. John Snyder and patrolman Thomas Proctor were called to Thomas' back yard at 11 a.m. yesterday and again found the alligator in a children's pool.
Ruggierio said when Proctor tried to help animal control officers by grabbing the alligator's tail, the reptile wheeled and snapped at Proctor, missing his hand by about 6 inches.
Ruggierio said Snyder is investigating the possibility of filing reckless endangerment charges against Thomas.
Dave Andrews, Wilkinsburg code enforcement officer, said Thomas was given notice Wednesday that he had violated the borough's exotic animal ordinance. Violators could face a $500-a-day fine if they keep an animal past a deadline for getting rid of it.
Among the animals the ordinance prohibits are non-domesticated cats, scorpions, bears, venomous snakes, constricting snakes, alligators and crocodiles, Andrews said.
McIntyre said the reptile is a 6-year-old North American alligator that is 4 feet, 1 inch long.
The animal control officer said the alligator definitely is dangerous.
"That thing can take a finger off," he said. "It could be bad if some child thought it was a toy and tried to pet it or pick it up."
McIntyre said the animal likely will be turned over to a reptile handler from West Virginia.
Man with alligator may face charges

Lots of morons.......

I saw this story break on the WPXI channel 11 news in Pittsburgh. This guy SHOULD pay a fine or spend time in jail. The guy not only knew he wasn't allowed to have the gator, but had the nerve to take it back home and possibly let the whole thing happen again, by leaving it outside.

The other moron....the guy that tried to grab it's tail. I saw the news......the animal control officer was holding the little guy by the tail and it was flailing all over the placed. Once he picked it up properly (reach for tail, place hand between legs, and lift, then support front of body with hand that had a hold of the tail), it was a calm as a baby. Every shot of him holding the gator off the ground with only holding on to the tail, the thing freaked.

This has nothing to due with new laws, etc. Wilkinsburg is not really the best of area in Pittsburgh. Very urban, and every home is merely inches apart. It's really no place to have ANY kind of pet that can't be kept in a small indoor cage/tank. This guy was a moron for just taking the gator outside, let alone outside without watching it.

I had the sweetest 4 foot aligator living in my bathtub in my apartment once. He was a real sweetheart. I however would never even think of taking him outside for a "sunsoak," if just to support the fact that nobody knew he was there.

He was only a temporary "pet" as we had taken him as a rescue from somebody that he had gotten "too big" for. We later adopted him out to a vendor at a show. Just so everybody knows he only lived in a bathtub for about 2 weeks. We would lift him out gently and place him on the floor when we wanted to bathe.

Anyway........I have no sympathy for this guy, no matter what they charge him with. It's just stupidity. And frankly, I don't think anybody here could argue the fact that this animal is POTENTIALLY dangerous. the story wasn't even blown out of proportion, or even a major story, until the guy made this lame brain move of taking it back home and letting it outside. The story ran on TV at about 11:27 (news is over at 11:35) so it was just a filler story it seems. That is until the owner showed up.

Anyway
Thanks
Todd Evans