Authorities in Washington state seized an unusual creature from a property last week: a full-grown alligator.
On October 20, Pierce County Animal Control responded to a Lakebay property following a prior complaint. They found the 6-foot, 7-inch alligator sitting in a small bathtub inside a shipping container," according to the county's sheriff's department.
Officials also found a "very sick" calf (baby cow) inside the container plus a mattress belonging to the 32-year-old owner so he could sleep with the animals.
Animal control and deputies came back the following day with a warrant to seize the reptile and check on the ill calf. Officials didn't find the owner or the cow, but "Al" the alligator was left behind. Video shared by the sheriff's department shows them wrangling the creature and loading it into animal control's vehicle.
"It’s not the Discovery Channel. You are watching Pierce County Animal Control and Pierce County Deputies wrangling a 6'7" alligator and placing it into the animal control truck," cops wrote in the Wednesday (October 26) Facebook post. "Animal Control did the hard job of getting Al out of his tub and holding him down. A deputy assisted with taping the mouth closed (that’s a big NOPE)."
Al, who was in good health at the time of capture, was taken to the Tacoma Humane Society, according to deputies. A wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary later took custody of the gator.
It's illegal to own an alligator in Washington state. No word on if they're looking for the owner.