Photo: Monmouth County SPCA
A young alligator found abandoned in a plastic bin on an empty lot in New Jersey has found a new home.
On Jan. 16, the Monmouth County SPCA (MCSPCA) shared on Facebook that a good Samaritan recently reached out to the organizationafter discovering a plastic container with a live alligator inside near their home.
The MCSPCA immediately took action, providing shelter for the abandoned animal in a climate-controlled area in its Eatontown facility. The shelter added that the gator received a “clean tank” with “proper air circulation” upon arriving at the facility after its rescue.
“It’s cruelty, absolutely,” MCSPCA executive director Ross Licitra toldNew Jersey News 12.
“[Someone] actually just took it, put it outside, and left it there to die,” he said, referring to the cold temperatures in New Jersey, which haveaveraged 45 degrees, with lows in the high thirties, over the past week.
Monmouth County SPCA
The MCSPCA said its Humane Law Enforcement Division is seeking information on who may have abandoned the reptile. Anyone found guilty of dumping the gator could face animal cruelty charges, according to New Jersey News 12.
“This did not happen as an accident,” Licitra told the news station. “Alligators or crocodiles are not native to New Jersey and aren’t accustomed to being in very, very cold weather. So whoever abandoned this animal did so in a really cruel and inhumane way.”
The MCSPCA said in itsFacebook postthat it is “illegal” for New Jersey residents to keep alligators or caimans as pets as both animals are “potentially dangerous exotic species.” The organization added that the creatures are not only a “danger to the public” but need “very specific care that only professionals can provide” when in captivity.
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According to theSmithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, American alligators can grow to be more than 11 feet in length and over 1,000 pounds.
The reptiles are usually found in slow-moving rivers and can also be found in swamps, marshes, and lakes. Alligators are carnivorous and usually eat game-like birds, frogs, and mammals.
source: people.com
