Albert the Alligator may finally get to go home after all. The 750-pound reptile could be returning to its owner very soon. A judge found that New York's Department of Environmental Conservation was in the wrong.
The judge found the organization denied the alligator's owner application for a dangerous animals permit without cause. Tony Cavallaro owned the gator before agents seized the reptile a year ago. A judge ruled that the DEC must issue a decision on his application for a dangerous pet. If not, they must return the animal within 30 days.
"I fought tooth and nail for this," Cavallaro told The New York Post. "They never expected somebody to come back and fight them like I did. They thought they were going to come in and walk all over me like some pansy."
Cavallaro owned the alligator for 30 years. But in the following decades, certain state laws changed. The pet owner says that submitted a reapplication for ownership in 2020 for Albert. But he said the organization ignored the application. Fast forward, agents seized the animal for the lack of proper permits.
Albert The Alligator
Courts determined that the DEC was not allow to deny the application without a proper response. The DEC has 30 days to respond, starting on February 14, or Albert will be released.
"There's no guarantee, but it looks good," Cavallaro said."I just want him to have a nice life again. I can't even imagine what's going through his head. They don't think animals have any feelings or nothing, and that's the farthest from the truth."
The pet owner believes he made the appropriate requests and changes to Albert's habitat. Cavallaro has owned Albert since he was a hatchling in 1995. Albert and the pet owner were thick as thieves for decades. However, DEC removed the reptile after decades together.
"The DEC didn't know the following I already had, the people that had already met me and knew Albert and how well I took care of him," he said. "He was loved by everyone. They never expected that."
We'll see if he gets his animal back or what happens next to Albert.
