All articles tagged with #illegal pet
A French couple was sentenced to suspended jail time for illegally keeping a black panther named Louise in their apartment, which led to her roaming rooftops and subsequent rescue. The court condemned the man to 18 months in jail and a fine, citing species trafficking and mistreatment concerns. Louise, now renamed Akilla, is living at a sanctuary in the Netherlands, where she is doing well.
Authorities seized an 11-foot, 750-pound alligator named Albert from a New York home after discovering that the owner had allowed public contact with the animal in an in-ground swimming pool. The owner's license to own the alligator had expired, and the reptile is now being cared for by a licensed caretaker due to health problems. Owning dangerous animals like alligators is illegal in New York without a proper license, and potential charges may be determined after further analysis of evidence seized during the seizure.
A Colorado man died after being bitten by a Gila monster, a venomous lizard he illegally kept as a pet. Christopher Ward, 34, became ill and passed away after being bitten on the hand by one of the reptiles, which are illegal to own in the city of Lakewood. The venomous lizards were removed from Ward's home, and officials plan to relocate them to an animal park in South Dakota. Gila monsters are the largest lizards in the United States and their venom is as toxic as that of a western diamondback rattlesnake, with no antivenom available for their bites.