ALLIGATOR PATROL

[Dave Monroe]

Hartford alligators were likely pets, police say
Reptiles may have gotten too big, expert suggests
By DAN BENSON
dbenson at journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 10, 2006

Hartford - Two 4-foot-long alligators recently found
in the Rubicon River west of downtown Hartford were at
"dumping size," where they become too large to remain
as pets and someone dumps them in the wild, the
operator of a Milwaukee animal shelter that
specializes in reptiles said Thursday.
Advertisement

"At that size, they become a little more than most
people can handle. They can inflict heavy damage,"
said Cindy Steinle, who has operated Small Scale
Reptile Rescue with her husband, Brian, for about 11
years.

The two alligators didn't get to Hartford by swimming
up from the Everglades, Police Chief David Groves
said.

"We're beginning with the assumption that it was a pet
owner living within the city," he said. "Somebody
dumped them there."

One of the alligators was found the afternoon of Aug.
3 in the river near the N. Wacker Drive bridge by boys
fishing for minnows, Groves said. The second was found
two days later by the same group.

The first alligator's mouth had been taped shut, and
the second showed signs that its mouth had also been
taped shut, Steinle said.

The two alligators were "severely underweight and
malnourished," she said.

Marnie Brown - executive director of the Washington
County Humane Society, where the alligators were
initially taken - said: "Whoever threw them into the
river pretty much condemned them to a slow, lingering
death."

The alligators found in Hartford weighed about 15
pounds each, police said.

Steinle estimated them to be about 4 years old.

Alligators are illegal to own in Milwaukee, Hartford
and many other communities.

Groves said no pets or people were menaced or injured.

He is asking the public for help in finding whoever
left the alligators. Anyone with information is asked
to call the Hartford Police Department at (262)
673-2600 or the We Tip hotline at (800) 232-0594.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=482244

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0010&msg=50179

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com