A man from the Buffalo area has decided to drop his two-year legal battle to regain custody of Albert, his 12-foot alligator, which was seized in 2024.
Tony Cavallaro, 66, had shared his home with Albert for more than 30 years before the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation removed the giant reptile.
Officers arrived at Cavallaro’s Hamburg, New York, home in March 2024 with a warrant, sedated the 750-pound (340-kilogram) alligator, and transported it to a sanctuary in Texas, AP reported from New York.
Cavallaro had filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s refusal to issue a licence to keep Albert. However, he said on Thursday that the ongoing court battle had become overwhelming and he could no longer manage the stress.
“They were never going to give me this alligator back, and it was going to cost me a lot more money. Another year and a half at least of stress — I just couldn’t do it,” Cavallaro said in a phone interview.
According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, Cavallaro’s licence to keep Albert had expired in 2021. The agency said that even if it had been renewed, Cavallaro had allowed visitors to touch Albert and even enter the pool with him, violations of rules for keeping animals classified as dangerous. The alligator also had health issues, including blindness in both eyes and spinal problems.
Cavallaro has maintained that Albert was gentle and affectionate, describing him as “just a big baby” who never showed aggression. He bought the alligator as a two-month-old at a reptile show in Ohio and considered him an emotional support animal.
Although Cavallaro has not seen Albert since the seizure, he has stayed in touch through updates and photographs. “I’m not at peace. I don’t think I ever will be,” he said. “I’m very angry about the whole thing.”
