EVENING NEWS (Edinburgh, UK) 22 December 04 Alligator in boot sale man admits cruelty
A man who tried to sell a dangerous alligator from the boot of his car in an Edinburgh car park has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty offences.
Anthony Quinn, 34, who kept the animal in the bath of his flat on the 15th floor of a tower block in Leith, was caught after trying to sell the creature to undercover police officers.
They expected to find a foot-long alligator but, when the car boot was opened, found themselves face-to-face with a four-foot reptile.
Sheriff Kenneth MacIver told Quinn, who bought the animal over the internet, that he was at a loss to impose a sentence to match the "stupidity and danger" of the offence.
Quinn, of Kirkgate House, Constitution Street, pleaded guilty to keeping a dangerous wild animal in his flat between May 26 and July 7 this year without having a licence from Edinburgh City Council.
He also admitted causing it unnecessary suffering by failing to keep it in the proper conditions, and to culpable and reckless conduct by endangering others.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the alligator, a Spectacled Caiman, was regarded by experts as being "very dangerous".
An advert offering it for sale was spotted by members of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who reported the matter to the police.
Fiscal Liz Paton said SSPCA Chief Inspector James Cormack and plain-clothes police officers opened the boot of Quinn’s Vauxhall Cavalier in the car park of the Comet store on Glasgow Road to find the alligator unrestrained and unmuzzled.
The fiscal said the reptile was a female, between four and five years old and weighed 7.5 kilos.
At the flat, Quinn showed the officers the bath in which he had kept the alligator.
He had fixed up "a heating contraption", but the wires were bare and, the fiscal added, if the alligator had snapped at them it could have been electrocuted.
Quinn told the officers he had bought the alligator for £250 over the internet from a man called "Bobby Brown", although he did not believe that was the seller’s real name. He collected the animal at the Harthill service station.
Ms Paton said Quinn told the police he was trying to buy a pond to put in the living room of his flat for the alligator and was feeding it on frozen mice and brown trout.
Quinn also said he had not realised how big the alligator was until he got it home and after a short while, realised how dangerous it was an decided to try and sell it for £400.
The fiscal said Quinn had waived all ownership rights to the animal and it was now in an animal sanctuary. It would be sent back to South America when it was six years old.
Defence agent Jim Stephenson said Quinn lived alone in his flat and so no-one else had been in danger.
"He had been looking to get a pet and over the internet came across the offer of an alligator for sale.
"He made further inquiries and did some basic research. He was under the mistaken belief the alligator he was buying was some 12 inches in length".
Mr Stephenson said Quinn had intended keeping the alligator in a four-foot fish tank.
His client, he added, "had been somewhat taken aback by its size and was not keen to take it, but the seller insisted on getting his money".
As soon as Quinn got it home, Mr Stephenson said he realised he could not care for it and decided to sell it. A number of people had responded to his advert, but he was not convinced they would care for it properly. He later indicated to the police that, when he got the telephone call from Chief Inspector Cormack, he had suspicions that it might be the SSPCA. Sheriff Kenneth MacIver deferred sentence on Quinn for social inquiry and community service reports.
Alligator in boot sale man admits cruelty