Reward of Up to $5,000 Offered for Help Nabbing Alligator Torturer

PETA Seeks Information on Culprit(s) Who Gouged Out an Alligator’s Eyes With a Blunt Object

For Immediate Release:
May 26, 2017

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

On May 15, a 4-foot alligator was found violently attacked near a vandalized Del Monte Foods store. The animal’s back was cut open, and the eyes had been gouged out with a blunt object. It’s believed that the culprit or culprits were also responsible for damaging the store’s equipment, flooding the entryway using outdoor water faucets, and spraying graffiti on the premises. The alligator was captured by a trapper and had to be euthanized.

“This alligator suffered hideously in an attack in which the eyes were gouged out and the back was cut open while the animal was still alive,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA urges anyone with information about this case to come forward immediately so that this animal torturer can be held accountable.”

Police have yet to make any arrests in the case. That’s why PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for this crime.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Martin County Sheriff’s Office at 772-220-7170 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-TIPS (8477).

For more information, please visit PETA.org.