SPOKANE-- Police recently seized thousands of dollars in cash and marijuana from the apartment of a convicted drug felon, but it’s what Fish and Game officials found in the home that made it interesting.
Christopher Harper had a host of exotic animals in the South Hill apartment, including a piranha and an alligator.
Spokanimal took in the animals, but the shelter is not set up for exotic creatures. Now it’s looking for a better place for the alligator to go.
The baby alligator appears visibly shaken. His caretakers say he won’t even eat his chicken dinner.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife says Christopher Harper was holding the reptile along with six piranhas, all of which are illegal to own in the city of Spokane.
Police say they were tipped off by an ad on Craigslist.
“Why anyone would want a wild animal for a pet, I can never figure it out,” Gail Mackie of Spokanimal said. “They’re not cuddly, they’re not friendly, and they’re frightened out of their gourds. It’s just best to leave wild animals in the wild.”
Spokanimal says it’s tough to find the alligator a new home because there are only a few reptile sanctuaries in the region.
Mackie expects it will take two weeks to place the animal.
“And who knows if it can even be released into the wild because when you have chicken thrown to you everyday you don't know how to hunt. It’s a no-win situation for everybody,” she said.
