Garrison Hilliard
2005-10-14 11:20:38 UTC
Rescued alligators relocated to Florida
By Shelly Whitehead
Post staf reporter
Even as a kid, Susan Fessler had a soft spot for offbeat underdogs.
Cartoons about the fabled fictional mongoose, Riki-Tiki-Tavi, were a childhood
passion. And in adulthood, she developed another passion - for a snake-loving
sideshow sword-swallower, who is now her husband, Travis Fessler.
Little wonder then that when Susan, a Boone County, Ky., animal control officer,
pulled two skinny alligators out of a tank during an animal cruelty
investigation in April, she felt she had to do something for the creatures.
Next Thursday, that something will take the Fesslers and the two now-thriving
alligators 1,100 miles south to a Florida alligator refuge park where the gators
gradually will be introduced to the semi-wild life.
The Fesslers are volunteering their time and car for the effort. And trip
expenses are being funded with donations from visitors to the Boone County
Animal Shelter.
More than $450 was given in about a month by animal-lovers touched by the
alligators' story.
The pair - dubbed Quaffle and Snitch by the Harry Potter-enamored Fessler - were
seized April 19 from J.A.J. Auto Body on Turfway Road in Florence, along with 19
boxers, six turtles and two frogs.
Jeremy Holbrook, 32, of Taylor Mill, is appealing last summer's conviction in
Boone District Court on 20 violations of Boone County animal laws.
Boone County Animal Warden Becky Reiter said Holbrook relinquished control of
all the reptiles seized in the case. The turtles and frogs were released to
their new lives in their native Northern Kentucky habitat.
The alligators, however, presented a greater challenge both to nurture back to
health, and then to release to a suitable home.
"When we took them out of the tank, they were covered in slime," Fessler said.
"So I always wanted them to go somewhere and not just be put down because their
lives had been so horrible."
"Where" ended up being Holiday Everglades Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which
Fessler says has a good reputation as a destination for pet alligators seized in
similar circumstances.
Park operators agreed to take the pair at no charge. Fessler just had to get
them there.
Reiter credits Fessler's determination with making the plan a reality.
Reiter did not want to use county funds to pay for the reptiles' relocation, but
she welcomed the placement of a donation jar at the shelter for the cause.
Money from the jar will pay for gas, meals and other expenses for the trip. The
reptiles will travel in standard pet carriers in the Fesslers' car, stopping for
a soak as needed every 12 hours.
The cream-and-black banded duo have grown about a foot each since their slippery
rescue seven months ago.
"Their temperament has changed a lot," Fessler said of the gators. "At first
they were very docile. But now, if you stick your hand in the tank, they'll go
right up to it. They're getting more alligator-like."
And that is a good thing, considering where the pair are going and the size of
some of their new neighbors.
Publication date: 10-13-2005
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051013/NEWS01/510130352
By Shelly Whitehead
Post staf reporter
Even as a kid, Susan Fessler had a soft spot for offbeat underdogs.
Cartoons about the fabled fictional mongoose, Riki-Tiki-Tavi, were a childhood
passion. And in adulthood, she developed another passion - for a snake-loving
sideshow sword-swallower, who is now her husband, Travis Fessler.
Little wonder then that when Susan, a Boone County, Ky., animal control officer,
pulled two skinny alligators out of a tank during an animal cruelty
investigation in April, she felt she had to do something for the creatures.
Next Thursday, that something will take the Fesslers and the two now-thriving
alligators 1,100 miles south to a Florida alligator refuge park where the gators
gradually will be introduced to the semi-wild life.
The Fesslers are volunteering their time and car for the effort. And trip
expenses are being funded with donations from visitors to the Boone County
Animal Shelter.
More than $450 was given in about a month by animal-lovers touched by the
alligators' story.
The pair - dubbed Quaffle and Snitch by the Harry Potter-enamored Fessler - were
seized April 19 from J.A.J. Auto Body on Turfway Road in Florence, along with 19
boxers, six turtles and two frogs.
Jeremy Holbrook, 32, of Taylor Mill, is appealing last summer's conviction in
Boone District Court on 20 violations of Boone County animal laws.
Boone County Animal Warden Becky Reiter said Holbrook relinquished control of
all the reptiles seized in the case. The turtles and frogs were released to
their new lives in their native Northern Kentucky habitat.
The alligators, however, presented a greater challenge both to nurture back to
health, and then to release to a suitable home.
"When we took them out of the tank, they were covered in slime," Fessler said.
"So I always wanted them to go somewhere and not just be put down because their
lives had been so horrible."
"Where" ended up being Holiday Everglades Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which
Fessler says has a good reputation as a destination for pet alligators seized in
similar circumstances.
Park operators agreed to take the pair at no charge. Fessler just had to get
them there.
Reiter credits Fessler's determination with making the plan a reality.
Reiter did not want to use county funds to pay for the reptiles' relocation, but
she welcomed the placement of a donation jar at the shelter for the cause.
Money from the jar will pay for gas, meals and other expenses for the trip. The
reptiles will travel in standard pet carriers in the Fesslers' car, stopping for
a soak as needed every 12 hours.
The cream-and-black banded duo have grown about a foot each since their slippery
rescue seven months ago.
"Their temperament has changed a lot," Fessler said of the gators. "At first
they were very docile. But now, if you stick your hand in the tank, they'll go
right up to it. They're getting more alligator-like."
And that is a good thing, considering where the pair are going and the size of
some of their new neighbors.
Publication date: 10-13-2005
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051013/NEWS01/510130352