Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) – It’s been almost a year since Albert, a 750-pound alligator, was taken from his home in the Town of Hamburg. The alligator was seized by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officers in March 2024.
The DEC claimed that Albert’s owner, Tony Cavallaro, failed to meet specific conditions to ensure the alligator did not come into contact with humans, and that he failed to properly fill out the application for his license renewal.
However, a ruling from New York State Supreme Court Judge John DelMonte on Friday says the DEC must properly review Cavallaro's application for the Dangerous Animal License, and must act on his application to renew his license for Albert.
Attorney Michael D'Amico, who represents Cavallaro in the case, says the judges ruling effectively resets the case to when Cavallaro applied for a permit renewal in 2021.
"He put it back in time, and now the DEC has to make a determination whether to deny the permit, grant the permit, or declare that it's incomplete. He then encourages the DEC and Tony to see if they can come to some reasonable terms, if they deem it incomplete, due to the changes in the regulations for dangerous animals. But the judge makes it pretty clear they can't be unduly, burdensome changes, or things that are extraordinary," stated D'Amico in an interview with WBEN.
Cavallaro maintains he had a Dangerous Animal License in good standing with the DEC for more than 30 years and was in regular contact with them when filling out the paperwork. D'Amico says the courts ruling explicitly states that the DEC must now take that into account, and that Cavallaro's habitat he built for Albert has already been approved as a suitable habitat.
"That all needs to be taken into account if they want to suggest that there need to be changes. It certainly encourages dialog between the state and Tony, and that's something that, all along, what we thought should have happened back in 2021. That's what Tony thought should have happened," D'Amico explained.
New York State now has 30 days to process the renewal application, or it will be automatically renewed.
"If they do not do that, the judge explicitly puts in his decision that Albert will be returned within 10 days of the inaction of the DEC. So the DEC needs to take some steps in either approving, denying or asking for some additional information from Tony," D'Amico stated.
Albert is currently being housed at a rehabilitation sanctuary in Beaumont, Texas.