The gator was seized from his owner near Buffalo, NY, in March 2024, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
BEAUMONT, Texas — A “celebrity” from upstate New York arrived at his new Southeast Texas home at Gator Country just west of Beaumont on Wednesday afternoon.
“Albert” is a 34-year-old, 750 pound alligator who has lived nearly all of his life at a home in Hamburg, New York. Hamburg is a town of about 60,000 just south of Buffalo and is about a 30 minute drive from the Canadian border.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The above video first aired on WGRZ on April 18, 2024.)
The large reptile was seized from his owner, Tony Cavallaro, in March 2024, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, according to file stories from our sister station, WGRZ, in Buffalo.
A court order has sent Albert the Alligator on a nearly 1,500 mile road trip to his new home, according to Gary Saurage of Gator Country. He’s scheduled to arrive around 2 p.m., Saurage told 12News.
Cavallaro, a reptile fan, first got Albert at a reptile show in the 90’s when the gator was 2-months old. He ended up building an addition to his home complete with an indoor, in-ground pool for Albert.
Albert and Cavallaro’s plight caught the attention of his neighbors and many in Hamburg. Yard signs have popped up all over Cavallaro’s block pleading for Albert to come home and T-shirts have been made in Albert’s honor also demanding his return.
Cavallaro had a license for the gator until 2021, when it expired. He says he spent a year trying to get the permit renewed.
He claims that the New York DEC did not respond to him.
The New York DEC, in a statement, said it “provided Mr. Cavallaro with a generous amount of time to come into compliance and respond to the Notice of Incomplete Application sent to him outlining the deficiencies.”
The DEC went on in the statement to say that “Albert wasn’t seized because of his demeanor or physical condition, but instead because of state law and regulations.”
Albert has several health issues, including being blind in both eyes and spinal complications according to WGRZ file stories.
In it’s statement the DEC said that just before they removed the gator, they received photos and information showing that Cavallaro allowed “unauthorized and close, physical contact between the public, including children, and the 750-pound alligator.”
The statement went on to say “DEC does not tolerate endangering the public or wildlife, including activities that put children and adults into direct contact with an animal classified in law and regulations as dangerous.
Specifically, the DEC said it removed Albert after receiving that information to protect “the health of both the public and the animal.”
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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