An alligator next to the living room. On November 15, 2024, the Nancy judicial court sentenced a veterinarian for keeping an alligator in his home, to four months in prison and a fine of 1,000 euros.
Denounced by an anonymous email
The French Biodiversity Office was alerted in April 2020. The environmental police received an anonymous email to warn them of the presence of the reptile.
The 1.60m animal was installed in a room adjacent to the living room. An annex to his clinic, according to the veterinarian, in which he had installed a heated pool to accommodate the animal. The practitioner claimed in court that he was holding the animal for treatment.
The animal arrived from Slovakia
The alligator had arrived from Slovakia by car, in a wooden box. Its owner had bought the animal, a Mississippi alligator, in the Netherlands and had entrusted it to the veterinarian on the advice of two Czech friends. But upon arriving in Meurthe-et-Moselle, the animal developed septicemia and then kidney problems.
The stay of a few weeks turned into years. “In terms of security, that doesn’t worry you?”asked the president of the court. “Non” the defendant simply replied, “I particularly like these animals.”
The veterinarian's lawyer, Me Massé, considered that his client was only doing his job : “The animal was being treated in an annex to his clinic. It was not a private detention.”
The alligator was confiscated. He is currently placed at the Amnéville zoo.
