ROMULUS, Mich. – An alligator with its mouth wired shut was rescued after being spotted in a residential area in Romulus.
Romulus police responded and called in the experts to rescue the two-and-a-half-foot-long gator.
Mark Rosenthal of Animal Magic is a DNR-certified rehabilitator and works with police in these types of situations.
The gator was rescued and taken to Rosenthal’s sanctuary. No injuries were reported.
Rosenthal named the gator “Navigator” and said he was only a couple of years old and likely was someone’s pet.
“This guy did not come out of the wild,” said Rosenthal. “This, I’m going to guess, (came from) a pet shop or was smuggled back from Florida. We’ll never know. He can’t talk, so we’ll never know the story behind him.”
According to Rosenthal, the gator can grow up to 15 feet long and weigh more than a thousand pounds.
Once he’s about half that size, Rosenthal will move him from the sanctuary to a licensed zoo.
Rosenthal said alligators are not pets, and Navigator should have never been a pet in the first place.
“Nobody in the history of the world has ever raised up an alligator or a crocodile to an adult and kept it friendly,” Rosenthal said. “These are killing machines.”
More: Alligators are being shipped to sanctuary in Michigan when they grow too big, become dangerous