Wildlife Experts Pushing For Ban On Alligators Being Kept As Pets

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - When you think about homes for alligators, you probably think of the southeast.

However, wildlife experts say they're finding more abandoned alligators here in Pennsylvania. There's a push to prevent the animals from being kept as pets.

Over the weekend, an alligator was found roaming around a neighborhood in Lancaster County.

"We got a call late at night on Saturday that there was an alligator that we needed to go bail out of jail," Jesse Rothacker, of Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary, said.

Police captured the gator and handed it over to Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary.

"In recent weeks, we've gotten a number of calls for alligators, almost always right around this size, around two or three feet long. That's when people take the pet they got a couple years ago, they realize its getting too big, and they just let it go," Rothacker said.

Just last week, an abandoned gator drew crowds at a Clearfield County water treatment plant.

Alligators are cold blooded and require a warm climate. While July may be fine, a gator in the wild would never survive a Pennsylvania winter.

Rothacker has been asking state legislators to outlaw the buying and selling of alligators at pets for years.

"As long as Pennsylvania has existed, we've been allowed to have pet alligators. In all of our surrounding states, alligators as pets are illegal," he said.

Working with a refuge in Tampa, Florida, Rothacker will have at least three alligators to deliver on his next trip.

In the meantime, he'll keep trying to give Pennsylvania reptile law some teeth.

"You can't do it in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio. Why are we still selling pet alligators in Pennsylvania?" Rothacker said.