Jun 17, 2009 7:02 am US/Eastern
Alligator, Piranhas Found In South Philly Home
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
A 5-foot long alligator and several piranhas were confiscated from a home in South Philadelphia Tuesday.
Animal control officers with the Philadelphia SPCA seized the alligator from a home in the 1300 block of Warnock Street after receiving a tip call.
"Anytime you have an alligator or any sort of exotic wildlife like that living in an urban environment, it's not right for the animal and it's not safe for the public either," Kim Wolf of the SPCA said.
Exterminator Mike McClay, the owner of the alligator named Kirt, found the alligator at a customer's house in West Philadelphia about three and a half years ago.
McClay said Kirt's original owner was jailed and the owner's mom was looking to get rid of the gator.
"So she told me to take the gator, I didn't know what to do with, I called the zoo, they didn't want it, no pet shops wanted it, so I got a little pond and threw him in my basement," McClay explained.
McClay said the only problem he had with Kirt was when the gator bit him on the finger when he was showing him to people outside his house.
After removing Kirt from the home, officers with the SPCA returned and confiscated McClay's three piranhas. SPCA officers said owning the piranhas in the city are illegal.
Kirt is being housed at a barn at the Philadelphia SPCA and is scheduled to be shipped to a wildlife refuge on Wednesday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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