Police find alligator in car boot

An Edinburgh man was arrested by police after they discovered an alligator in the boot of his car, a court has heard.

Anthony Quinn, 34, of Leith, was trying to sell the 4ft reptile after buying it over the internet and then realising that he could not care for it.

He advertised the spectacled caiman for sale and was arrested by undercover police officers for keeping the animal.

Quinn pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to keeping a dangerous wild animal in his 15th floor flat.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) initially spotted that the animal was for sale after Quinn placed an advert.

Dangerous animal

Posing as potential buyers, SSPCA officers and plain-clothes police met Quinn in a car park in Edinburgh and asked to see the animal.

Quinn opened the boot of his Vauxhall Cavalier and the officers were confronted by the unrestrained and unmuzzled creature.

Regarded by experts as being “very dangerous”, the female specimen was between four and five years old and weighed 7.5 kilos.

Quinn explained he had been looking for a pet and came across the alligator for sale on the internet. He said he had bought it for £250 from a man called “Bobby Brown”.

Taken aback

The court heard he thought it was only 12″ long and had been taken aback by its size when he picked it up.

He had initially planned to keep it in a 4ft fish tank at his flat in Kirkgate House, Constitution Street, but decided to house it in a bath instead.

He soon realised how dangerous the caiman was and decided to sell it on for a profit.

In the meantime, the court heard, he had fixed up “a heating contraption” which could have electrocuted the animal and was looking to buy a pond so he could keep it in his living room.

He fed it on frozen mice and brown trout.

At a loss

The procurator fiscal said Quinn had waived all ownership rights to the animal and it was now in an animal sanctuary.

It will be sent back to South America for breeding purposes when it is six years old.

Quinn pleaded guilty to keeping a dangerous wild animal in his flat between 26 May and 7 July this year without having a licence from Edinburgh City Council; to causing it unnecessary suffering by failing to keep it in the proper conditions; and to culpable and reckless conduct by endangering others.

In Quinn’s defence, it was said that he lived alone and so no-one else had been put in danger.

Sheriff Kenneth MacIver said he was at a loss to come up with a punishment that would meet the stupidity and danger to others caused by Quinn’s actions. He deferred sentence for reports.