A Florida man is facing charges after he admitted to keeping a 3.5-foot-long alligator inside an aquarium at his house, according to WFLA. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) recently said one of its officers responded to an Orlando home and questioned 28-year-old Christopher Abelard about the reptile.
The agency claims Abelard grinned when asked about the creature before opening up his garage to show an American alligator inside a 35-gallon aquarium tank. He then told the officer he didn't know anything about the creature and that it actually belonged to his father, 50-year-old Jean Abelard.
After the younger Abelard told the FWC officer he didn't want to get involved in the incident, the officer had the 28-year-old call his father. Jean Abelard alleges he found the alligator crossing the road on September 23, the agency said.
As for why he took the alligator into captivity, the older Abelard said he didn't want someone to run it over, pick it up, take it home, or eat it, according to FWC's report. He also claimed he was going to drop the alligator off at Gatorland within a few days.
The reptile was seized since Abelard didn't have a required Class II permit to possess an alligator, and his aquarium didn't meet proper caging requirements, FWC said. The report added, “Not only was the aquarium small but it was dirty and only had a small mesh top with dumbbell weights holding it down."
Jean Abelard faces misdemeanor charges of unlawful sale, possession, and transporting of alligators and violating Florida administrative codes pertaining to wildlife as personal pets.
According to WFTV, the alligator was released into Lake Apopka.