Jaxson was purchased at a Los Angeles pet shop 37 years ago, according to Ron Gorecki, 53, one of the people in the home in the 13200 block of Sylvan Street in Van Nuys. The original owner was Gorecki’s brother-in-law, Jim Mattson, who passed away two years ago. Gorecki has been helping his sister, Laura Mattson, take care of the alligator.
Jaxson’s presence in the neighborhood has been a well known “open secret” for many years. When Jaxson, a female alligator, was small, she lived indoors, along with a couple pet cats and a turtle. When she became too big to live indoors, she spent the nights in a crate in the backyard.
Animal control officers received a tip in August last year about a “10-foot alligator” at the residence, according to CBS La, but when officers searched the home, nothing was found. At the time, a follow-up visit was planned in case the alligator had purposely been relocated to avoid seizure.
The raid on Monday was a surprise. Officers were denied entry when the family found out what they were looking for. Animal control then came back with a search warrant and found Jaxson in a large crate in the backyard covered in bushes and other debris. Inside the crate with the alligator, officers found two dead cats.
The dead cats may belong to neighbors, according to officials, and neighbors are being asked to report any missing pets during the last 40 years. Staff from the Los Angeles Zoo were called in to transport Jaxson to their facility. She was removed without being sedated and is undergoing a health examination.
Laura Mattson told reporters there was “no way” Jaxson was fed cats. She said the alligator was fed chicken meat. Saying the alligator “was raised with cats,” she pointed to a photo of Jaxson with two small kittens, one of them snuggled up beside the alligator.
Mark Salazar, the head of field operations for Los Angeles Animal Services, told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS, “You cannot own a reptile … like this in the City of Los Angeles without having a proper permit. And obviously for an alligator, we would not permit that.”
Animal control is pursuing criminal charges against the family. Mattson says she now understands she can’t keep an alligator as a pet and hopes the zoo will give her a good home. “I’d be really happy if the zoo took her,” she said. “That would be the best thing for her, plus maybe she could find a mate.”
