Albert the alligator’s owner sues NY agency in effort to be reunited with seized pet

BUFFALO, N.Y. — An upstate New York man whose 750-pound alligator was seized is suing the state Department of Environmental Conservation in an effort to get him back, saying the agency was wrong not to renew a license for the pet he looked after for more than 30 years.

Conservation officers entered Tony Cavallaro’s home in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg in March, sedated the 11-foot alligator named Albert, taped his mouth shut and drove off with him, saying Cavallaro’s license to keep the reptile expired in 2021 and hadn’t been renewed.

In his lawsuit filed with the state Supreme Court, Cavallaro says the agency’s denial of his license wasn’t “factually based,” his attorney, Peter Kooshoian, said Tuesday.

“We’re hoping that he will get his license to have the animal reinstated, and from there we’d like to either negotiate or litigate to have the animal brought back to Mr. Cavallaro because we feel that he should have had a valid license at the time, as he’d had for the last 30 years,” Kooshoian said.

The DEC does not comment on pending litigation, a spokesman said via email when asked for a response to the claims. It previously said Albert’s enclosure didn’t sufficiently ensure that he would not come into contact with people, and that the alligator was afflicted by “blindness in both eyes and spinal complications” — conditions Cavallaro disputes.

Officers’ seizure of the alligator, caught on video, and Cavallaro’s videos and photos of him petting and kissing Albert in the custom indoor pool he built led to an outpouring of support for the duo. “Bring Albert Home” signs still dot some neighborhood lawns and more than 4,500 followers keep up with Cavallaro’s efforts on Facebook.

“I’m hoping we get this thing resolved. That’s all I can do,” Cavallaro said of the decision to sue. “It’s overwhelming me. … It’s ruined my whole year, destroyed it.”

Cavallaro bought the American alligator at an Ohio reptile show in 1990 when Albert was two months old. He considers him an emotional support animal and “gentle giant.”

The license became an issue following a change in regulations for possessing dangerous animals adopted by the DEC in 2020. After Cavallaro’s license expired in 2021, the agency said he failed to bring the holding area into compliance with the updated standards to ensure the alligator did not pose a danger to the public.

Cavallaro said the DEC failed to follow its own licensing requirements governing people who already owned a wild animal when the new regulations took effect.

Albert was taken to Gator Country, a Beaumont, Texas, rescue facility where visitors can interact with the alligators and other reptiles.

“You can interact with them in all different ways. It’s like a kick right in my teeth,” Cavallaro said.

Carolyn Thompson reports for The Associated Press.