Was family's 8-foot alligator a serial cat killer? Probe seeks info on small pets missing since 1975
Image from Shutterstock.
It isn’t legal to keep an alligator as a pet in Los Angeles without a permit. But somehow a Van Nuys family managed to do so for decades.
Although something of an open secret among those who lived in the neighborhood, Jaxson managed to stay under the radar, as far as city animal control was concerned until recently, the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) reports.
Unsuccessful in an effort to find the 8-foot reptile during a preannounced search after a tip from a neighbor, officials returned this week with a search warrant. They got their gator, who is now housed temporarily at the Los Angeles Zoo, and plan to forward the case to the city attorney’s office for potential prosecution, the newspaper says.
Meanwhile, amidst questions about how Jaxson may have been interacting with the neighborhood’s prowling cat population, the probe has taken another direction. Officials are asking anyone whose small pet may have disappeared over the past 40 years to contact the city’s animal services department at (213) 482-7455.
Related coverage:
CNN: “Officials seize pet alligator that family kept illegally for 37 years”
KABC: “8-foot alligator found at Van Nuys house with dead cats”
LA Daily News: “8-foot Sylvan Street alligator defended by his Van Nuys caretaker”
