NEWS JOURNAL (Clovis, New Mexico) 10 January 08 Tina's talk of the town - Alligator revels in new digs at area humane society (Molly R. Okeon)
Pasadena: Tina is a lot like most gals.
She likes a good back scratch every now and then; she packs on a few pounds each winter; and if she gets agitated, it's best to stay out of her way.
But this woman is cold-blooded - for real.
The nearly 7-foot-long American alligator, who takes her name from powerful vocalist Tina Turner, is digging her recently upgraded digs at the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA, officials there say.
"She's been more active than normal," said Veronica Fincher, the Humane Society's vice president of operations, who formerly served as the shelter's wildlife officer.
"People are saying they notice her more now that she's moving around. People are entertained by her."
In May, Tina was given an extra 15 square feet of crawl space in her now-150-square-foot enclosure. Along with the additional room, she got a new, intricately designed stone waterfall that circulates water into her once-stagnant pond, said Steve McNall, Humane Society president and CEO.
Ray Stewart, a Tina fan and the owner of Waterworks Ponds in Glendale, spent two weeks creating the waterfall for free. He also donated more than $1,000 for her care, said shelter spokeswoman Ricky Whitman.
Prior to the expansion, the 100-plus-pound reptile's tail would hang out of her small concrete pool, and she was unable to turn around while in it, officials said.
McNall said he and his staff considered other living arrangements for Tina, including shipping her off to a zoo in Florida or Georgia.
But after making the calls to zoos in the Southern states, McNall quickly discovered they had an overabundance of alligators and weren't dying to take in Tina.
"The thing with Tina is she's very imprinted to humans," McNall said, adding that the gator was born in captivity. "She can't be released into the wild."
The only facilities that have expressed interest in adopting Tina have been petting zoos, but McNall has concerns about that option, saying the "care and treatment of animals is not of the highest standards" at many petting zoos.
Also at issue is Tina's single status; she's just not used to being around others of her kind, officials said.
"She can't be housed with other alligators. Trying to find a facility that isn't multi-alligator is pretty unrealistic," Fincher said.
The expansion provided by Stewart's generous donations worked out for the best for Tina, McNall said.
"We figured we'd put all our energy into making her as comfortable as possible," he said.
As far as McNall knows, his is the only animal shelter in the country that is home to an alligator, making the local humane society unique, he said.
Tina, who McNall guesses is 15 to 28 years old, came to the local facility in 1998, along with a couple of hedgehogs. Their original home, a traveling wildlife education show, went bust.
"The reason why she's here and why she has remained here is that she is part of our education program," McNall said. "Thousands of schoolchildren see her each year. She's part of our wildlife-protection program."
Besides, she's not too much trouble.
This time of year, Tina eats one or two store-bought chickens a week, bones and all. During the spring and summer, she chomps down one of the birds every two days, McNall said.
At least he thinks that's all she eats.
"We haven't been missing any employees," McNall said.
Alligator revels in new digs at area humane society