Game Warden Drags, Kills Alligator(on a Houston suburb's residential street-on video)

Channel 2 Pseudo-News website ^ | 4/29/03 | Channel 2 sleazeball tabloid newsroom

[Diddle E. Squat]

Game Warden Drags, Kills Alligator Katy Residents Angry Over Gator's Death

POSTED: 8:47 a.m. CDT April 29, 2003 UPDATED: 11:04 a.m. CDT April 29, 2003

KATY, Texas -- Some Houston-area residents said they were upset Monday at the way a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department game warden got rid of 9-foot alligator in their neighborhood.

Residents told News2Houston that they called authorities after discovering the gator Thursday in the middle of a road in the 22000 block of Lodgestone Court in a Cinco Ranch neighborhood in Katy.

Witnesses recorded the gator's capture on videotape, in which the game warden was seen tying the animal to the back of his pickup, and then dragging it down the street while children and parents watched.

"It was very inhumane," resident Lara Mercadante said. "It was awful. It was absolutely unreal. If you weren't here you would not believe that it happened. We never thought that it was going to end up the way it did."

The game warden then took the alligator to the end of the street, and shot and killed it, authorities said.

TPWD officials said that although it is not typical practice for their officers to tow a live alligator behind a truck, they believe that the game warden followed what he felt was the most effective course of action.

However, officials said that as of a result of the incident, they are now reviewing their policies regarding nuisance alligator removal.

[freeeee]

Does this mean that you would allow these businesses to dispatch these animals the safest and most expedient way possible, or would you impose regulations on those businesses on how they go about dispatching these animals?

Good question. It wouldn't be so much a matter of regulation though. If it were up to me, the county would choose (not force) to hire firms with safe and humane practices, as outlined in post #51.

Poor judgement, such as dragging the gator down the street, would prompt complaints from citizens, as it did in this article. The county, in accordance with the wishes of those citizens who it serves, would from then on hire another firm. Therefore, in the pursuit of profit, it would be in private firms own best interest to safely and humanely remove and dispose of the gator.

[annyokie]

Gators are evil killing machines and these folks need to get educated. If this gator had eaten someone's Golden Retriever, there'd be no argument about ho he was taken out.

On a different note, I once hit a cow with my Opal Cadet on a rural road. Totalled my car, but the poor cow was lurching around the road, vomiting blood and walking on three legs since her shoulder and one front leg were obviously broken. I begged the cop when one finally showed up, to shoot the poor thing and he couldn't/wouldn't until they could contact the owner.

She, the owner tried to sue me for killing the cow even though her fence was down. The world is nuts. And that was 20 years ago.

[Search4Truth]

"Poor judgement, such as dragging the gator down the street, would prompt complaints from citizens, as it did in this article. The county, in accordance with the wishes of those citizens who it serves, would from then on hire another firm. Therefore, in the pursuit of profit, it would be in private firms own best interest to safely and humanely remove and dispose of the gator."

The gator is dead. A potentially deadly menace was removed, the soccer moms will get over their trauma.

Who would want to be in a business that was subject to cancellation, simply because of the sensitivites of soccer moms? Is that your idea of free enteprise? Does not sound like a situation that any business man would want to shake a gator stick at.

[Dog Gone]

I don't think you'd make much of a living being a gator trapper in Houston. It's not like this happens every month, or even every year.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Hmmm, could this be why your dog is gone?

[freeeee]

I don't think you'd make much of a living being a gator trapper in Houston. It's not like this happens every month, or even every year.

True. But it doesn't need to be. It can be occasional sidework for some enterprising people who want to make more money once in a while. I'm sure there's no shortage of people in need of an occasional odd gator job, or would like to wear some gatorskin boots and eat some tasty gator tail.

And you don't need a lot of work to cover your overhead. All you need is a pole with a loop, a pickup truck, some duck tape, 3 guys, a gun, and some knowledge. Considering you're talking about Houston, most people would already have everything they need but the pole with a loop, which costs about as much as a cheap fishing pole.

[Dog Gone]

Yeah, and I think I know where my cat went, too.

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

LOL .. you crack me up!

[freeeee]

The gator is dead.

I got that. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. This was the wrong way.

Who would want to be in a business that was subject to cancellation, simply because of the sensitivites of soccer moms?

I hear ya. Tell ya what, if the sucker moms don't like the method in post #51, they can get rid of it themselves or keep the damned thing in front of their houses. Somehow, I think you won't get many complaints for merely duck taping it and hoisting it into a pickup truck bed. The sucker moms won't be around later when its shot.

[stands2reason]

You know, everybody said it was a shame, that her mama was woking on a chain gang....mean, vicious woman as I recall.

[xm177e2]

I don't think any animal should be dragged behind a truck

Any live animal, at least. A dead one would not be such a big deal.

[stands2reason]

My mama was a big Tom Jones fan.

He did it as well? I like Tom. But, really, Elvis did it, and some other people did it as well.

[annyokie]

You forgot spiteful ; )

[stands2reason]

Being from the Big Easy in the Deep South, I can tell you that was one dangerous gator.

"No, not our golf-course pool gator! He was a sweetheart! How could they be so cruel?" *sniff* (do you really need a sarcasm tag?)

[annyokie]

Yes. Kind of on the pathetic order. Oh, do I have stories to tell about Tom Jones that can't be related on this forum. Showbiz friends told me waaaaaaaay too much about him.

[Search4Truth]

"I hear ya. Tell ya what, if the sucker moms don't like the method in post #51, they can get rid of it themselves or keep the damned thing in front of their houses. Somehow, I think you won't get many complaints for merely duck taping it and hoisting it into a pickup truck bed. The sucker moms won't be around later when its shot."

LOL. I'm looking at it from a pragmatic business viewpoint. It is easier, safer, and quicker, therefor more profitable, if one man, with nothing more than a pickup with an electric winch and a .38 can dispatch any gator post haste. You shoot it where it lies, and hoist it into the truck with the winch. Then, as you suggested, skin it for the hide, and sell the meat for dog food.

Capturing it, to dispatch later in a private location, to suit the sensitivities of soccer moms, is a whole different business model.

[Not Insane]

Man, I hope these people never have to watch somebody making sausage!

It'll be a mess for sure.

[stands2reason]

Where are all these "firms" you speak of?

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

KATY, Texas -- Some Houston-area residents said they were upset Monday at the way a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department game warden got rid of 9-foot alligator in their neighborhood.

I guess they would have preferred the more human lethal injection

we have gators all over the place down here if a nuisance alligator is trapped over 4 feet long the trapper keeps it as his payment he is not paid any cash

[Lucas1]

Quote "Sure it doesn't look pretty, but sometimes you gotta no other option"

Ummm no other option? They take care of this stuff all the time in Florida...THEY DO NOT KILL THE GATORS AND DRAG THEM THROUGH THE STREETS. What an idiot...these guys should be fired.