HAMBURG, N.Y. (AP) — An ailing alligator was seized from an upstate New York home where it was being kept illegally, state officials said. Environmental conservation police officers seized the 750-pound (340-kilogram), 11-foot-long (3.4-meter-long) alligator on Wednesday from a home in Hamburg, south of Buffalo. The home's owner built an addition and installed an in-ground swimming pool for the 30-year-old alligator and allowed people, including children, to get into the water with the reptile, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Cavallaro said he treated the alligator like it was his kid and that he never put anyone in danger. Officials believe a lethargic 4-foot (1.2-meter) alligator found in Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn in February 2023 was likely an abandoned pet.

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Persons: Tony Cavallaro, Albert, Cavallaro, ” Cavallaro, haven't Organizations: of Environmental Conservation, Associated Press Locations: HAMBURG, New York, Hamburg, Buffalo, Prospect Park Lake, Brooklyn