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WALDO COUNTY CITIZEN (Belfast, Maine) 25 February 08 Alligator confiscated in Maine
Monticello: The Maine Warden Service has taken possession of a 2- to 3-year-old American alligator living in a terrarium at a Route 1 home.
When owner Justin Barry, 20, was asked to show the alligator, he allegedly told wardens he did not have a permit to possess the reptile.
Barry was issued summonses Sunday, Feb. 24, for keeping wildlife in captivity and importing/receiving wildlife without a permit. He is scheduled to appear March 4, in Houlton District Court. Barry could receive a fine and/or jail time.
Wardens reportedly received a tip from a confidential informant who saw pictures of the alligator on the Internet. After investigating the tip, wardens went to the house, asked questions and confiscated the reptile, according to Warden Josh Smith.
“We secured the alligator’s mouth and brought him with us,” said Smith. “He was angry to be out of his terrarium but he eventually calmed down.”
The case remains under investigation.
The alligator was transported to an animal rescue facility in Winslow that has a permit to possess exotic animals.
According to Vasco Carter, staff biologist at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the department maintains a list of animals allowed to be imported and possessed in Maine. If a fish, bird or other animal is on the list, a permit is not required.
For animals not on the list, an individual or business is required to possess two permits — an importation permit and a possession authority permit. There are three separate possession authority or classification permits, said Carter. One is for exhibitors, another for wildlife propagators and the third for general wildlife or fish possession.
An importation permit is $27, as is a possession permit for propagators and general wildlife or fish. An exhibitor permit is $147.
According to Carter, an individual seeking a permit would call the department about his or her interest to import and possess an exotic, non-native animal. A discussion would occur as to what the intended use would be of the animal. Once a prospective classification is determined, the applicant would need to submit all required information on the application as well as a veterinarian inspection. If an animal is going to be possessed, caging facilities would need to be inspected.
All of the information is reviewed by the agency before a determination is made, Carter said. If an individual is denied a permit, an appeals process is available.
Alligator confiscated in Maine

FIRST of all if you have an illegal pet and the government comes to your house.....well.....don't answer the damn door! certainly don't answer any questions!!!! what happened to remaining silent? SECOND how on earth did they get this guys address? As far as i knew they just can't find a picture on the internet and "demand" the ip provider to give up the address. that's illegal itself. whatever agency would need to get a warrant to make the ip provider give up the address. how can you get a warrant for a picture on the internet? if i post a picture of my caiman on the internet that is enough to get a warrant to search the house? NO WAY...something is missing in this story.

Someone ratted him out. That picture must have been circulating around on the internet, some person that didnt like him maybe called Animal Control or something. And the guy must have got nervous when animal control or cops showed up to his place. Not to mention a 3 foot gator is not easy to hide. He just opened his mouth too early. Unlucky for him.

how could he be ratted out. lets say i posted it for sale and i put my address or talked to a potential buyer and told him my address then i understand. but if he just posted a picture....an ip provider cannot give out your address to anyone without a warrant. and if it happened that way how do you get a warrant for just a picture in the internet? i could post pictures and say this 16 foot crocodile is mine and in my basement and i could be lieing. they just can't go on some guys word on the internet.

If the individual hadn't been keeping it illegally to begin with, he wouldn't have had an issue. I'm not fond of legislation, but when the laws are in place it shows irresponsibility and is a slap in the face to fellow keepers who ARE responsible when you keep one illegally and are busted. Exotic animal keepers tend to get a bad rep to begin with and these incidents don't help. If you want to keep regulated animals, move to a state where they are legal and then FIGHT for your privileges to keep them with factual backed up data and not "It's my RIGHT" rants and ramblings.

JMO,

Chris
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My Website
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i don't agree with croc laws so i think they should be ignored completely. when you live in new york state (illegal state) which borders PA (legal state) you are ok on one side of the street but a criminal on the other? hahaha yeah. forget that. as for picking up and moving to another state just for a pet!?!?! that's absurd to say the least. my house, my career, my family.....just pick it all up and move for a pet lizard that people are afraid of??!?!!?!?.............nah

The fact of the matter is that if individuals that owned the animals behaved in a responsible manner, then there would be no need for exotic animal laws. It's people bringing unneeded attention to themselves with their "pets" that gives our "hobby" if you will, a black eye. The reason why people are afraid of the animals are simply because...well, they are dangerous in the wrong person's hands! Part of pet ownership is realizing whether their ownership is feasible in your given situation and circumstances of life. I don't agree with croc or any other animal legislation for that matter. But being selfish and going against laws hurts everyone else who ARE being responsible. Besides, laws can be reversed if people are willing to work towards it. New York got blind sided. They were caught with their pants down and couldn't get organized quick enough to defend themselves. When it was possible, many sat back and said...Ah, I'll let the others deal with it.

With that being said, if you are keeping an exotic animal illegally, and you get busted...quit crying and blaming everyone else around you for YOU getting caught. That's like me speeding above the speed limit and then blaming the other motorists because they weren't moving as fast as I was so I was the one that got caught. If someone rats you out...guess what, you deserved it. If you are keeping yourself legal, then you have all the ground in the world to defend yourself. Once you're in the wrong, you just screwed yourself. If you're keeping a large species of crocodilian in a state where they are illegal, you're just screwing yourself anyhow...exactly what would that individual plan to do with that animal if it got sick? Just let it die? How are they planning on hiding a 10-11' Nile or 8-9' American Alligator? What if you're injured by the animal and need medical attention? As the famous quote goes..."stupid is as stupid does".

Chris

>>i don't agree with croc laws so i think they should be ignored completely. when you live in new york state (illegal state) which borders PA (legal state) you are ok on one side of the street but a criminal on the other? hahaha yeah. forget that. as for picking up and moving to another state just for a pet!?!?! that's absurd to say the least. my house, my career, my family.....just pick it all up and move for a pet lizard that people are afraid of??!?!!?!?.............nah
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My Website
www.herpfanatic.com

a million times. more people keep them illegaly than legally

Correct, and just how many of those are growing to full adulthood and are completely healthy? I can guarantee less than 1% of them are. The ones that do have larger specimens are usually caught quite easily.

>>a million times. more people keep them illegaly than legally
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My Website
www.herpfanatic.com

"i don't agree with croc laws so i think they should be ignored completely. when you live in new york state (illegal state) which borders PA (legal state) you are ok on one side of the street but a criminal on the other?"

Funny thing about NY is that you wouldn't be dealing with croc laws. All crocodilians are considered endangered species and would fall under the Lacey Act. Get caught with an endagered species here and you are in a world of sh!t.
I got my crocodilian permit some years ago, but found out that it was specifically for selling, buying, keeping, stuffed animals and their parts, not for keeping live animals. Needless to say it was pretty pointless, so I never acquired any croc's and never renewed the permit.

when i said "croc" laws i meant the New York State exotic animals law. don't know much about any sepcific crocodile laws. in NY a dwarf caiman is considered an exotic animal and illegal without the permit. as far as i know dwarf caimans are not endangered species.

In NY, there is no croc specific or exotic animal permit for keeping them. They ALL fall into the endangered species category, whether they are a caiman, alligator, crocodile, it doesn't matter.

sorry. but there are permits in new york to keep them, sell them and import them. i've been dealing with them in new york for about 15 years now. thanks anyway.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/25008.html

http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/25007.html

I meant it in the sense that some person must have recognized his picture online and figured he has a croc in his house. Could be a small town. Must have just called animal control and things went downhill from there. The fact of the matter is as goini04 said, if its illegal, its trouble (and a headache). If someone has an illegal croc in his locality, either hide it well or have a plan B to get rid of it responsibly in due course of time. In my opinion, a three footer croc is something thats not easy to hide. Thats being pretty bold to keep it. The media must have shown it at the 5 pm Fox new or something as top story.