It was a callous act to take away his best friend.
An upstate New York man who had a 750-pound pet alligator in his home is devastated after government agents took his companion away. And the same sadness can be seen on Albert’s scaly face.
“I know the look on his face, and that happy face you saw is no longer there,” Tony Cavallaro, who was so emotional he couldn’t sleep, told the Post. “He seems very lost and very distraught.
“You can see the expression on his face,” Cavallaro said of the blind 34-year-old alligator, who was brought to a new home in Texas this month. “Reptiles have just as much expressiveness as humans, it’s just that we don’t see it as much because of their scales.”
In March, Albert was taken from Cavallaro’s home in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg and kept in an elaborate enclosure that cost more than $120,000 to install. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) searched the residence after receiving an anonymous complaint that Cavallaro had allowed people to swim with the reptile. Officials said Albert had been kept in captivity without a permit since 2021.
After weeks of not knowing where Albert was, Cavallaro learned on the news on May 8 that Albert would be transported to Beaumont, Texas, and housed at Gator Country Adventure Park. . Cavallaro fears Albert will be turned into a money-making circus animal.
“They’re using the ‘World Famous Crocodile of Hamburg, New York’ as a huge money-making vehicle,” Cavallaro raged. “This is a money grab and it’s terrible that they’re using money to do that.”
Gator Country claims to be a sanctuary housing more than 450 alligators rescued from dire conditions, and the DEC says Albert developed serious health conditions, including spinal deformities, from living in New York. , but Cavallaro believes those claims are false.
“Everyone who knows me and knows how I cared for this animal knows they’re lying,” Cavallaro said, denying Gator Country’s claims. vehemently objected 12 Go to news Albert lived in an underground pond, and the water had not been changed for nearly 10 years.
Mr Cavallaro said “everything is completely wrong” and believed “90%” of what his critics had said about him were “continuous lies”, pleading his case before Mr Albert. He added that he was never given the opportunity to do so. I was kicked out.
Gator Country declined to comment when contacted by the Post.
The DEC said in a statement that after extensive testing and initial rehabilitation by veterinarians in Massachusetts, Albert will be sent to a “licensed alligator rehabilitation facility.”
“This move was approved by a veterinarian and the crocodile has demonstrated significant improvement in health following several weeks of treatment, provision of a proper diet and necessary ultraviolet light, and other conducive living conditions.” planned only later,” the DEC said.
“Due to the ongoing enforcement investigation, the Hamburg City Court has granted the necessary permits for the transport.”
The crocodile is currently housed in a custom-built fenced enclosure, but can be observed from a distance.
Cavallaro considers traveling to Texas to visit an old friend, but he doesn’t know if he and Albert can handle the pain.
“He will see me and I will have to leave him and that will destroy him even more.
“I just go up to him and say, ‘Hey, buddy.’ Hey, buddy,” Cavallaro said, his voice shaking with emotion. “I’m going to start screaming my eyes out. I know I’m going to do that. I’m very aware that it’s going to be terrible. Everything. I’m going to see him, and it’s going to confuse me. On TV. My heart breaks every time I see his face…he misses his pool.
“He’s as friendly as the friendliest alligator you’d ever want to meet.”
Back home, Cavallaro tries to stay strong for Albert as he prepares for a legal battle to get him back. In April, he hosted a fundraiser for legal costs that drew dozens of supporters wearing “Free Albert” T-shirts.
He said Cavallaro and his team are considering legal action for defamation, as well as claims that Albert tried to renew his license in 2021 but his complaints were repeatedly ignored. The company is also considering whether DEC had the right to take Mr. Albert away in the first place.
document Retrieved by WGRZ This confirmed Cavallaro’s claim that despite repeated attempts to renew his permit, the DEC simply ignored him. The DEC said Cavallaro never submitted a permit after the 2020 rule change and never mentioned safety issues or the alleged defects in Albert’s pen.
But until the battle begins, each day without Albert takes a toll on Cavallaro.
“I’m really angry about that. I’m really, really hurt,” Cavallaro said of the hatchling reptile. “They ruined my life with this. I have no motivation to do anything. I can’t sleep. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“My house is so empty. I can’t explain it. When you’re with someone for that long, you get attached to them. It’s more than half my life. And it’s just a horrible feeling,” he said. Ta.
“It would have been 34 years this August since I had him. And he’ll be 34 this June. Now they’re using him as an exhibit. What they’re doing. That’s really scary.”
Cavallaro is happy to have Albert transferred to a familiar Florida shelter, but he knows exactly what he’s doing if Albert gets his buddy back. he said.
“If we get him back, we’re going to take him to Florida and get him out of this godforsaken state,” he said.
