A man who kept an alligator in his outhouse for over a year claims he did not know he needed a licence for the animal.
Ashley Betts, 32, of Rotherham, was fined £333, paying nearly £1,000 in total costs, after pleading guilty to breaching the Keeping Dangerous Animals Act on Wednesday.
Sheffield Magistrates Court was told Betts ‘did not know’ he needed to obtain a special licence from local authorities to own his four-foot-long American alligator.
The father of three illegally kept the alligator called ‘Cliff’ in a purpose-built outhouse in his back garden for more than a year.
TikTok videos posted by Betts showed Cliff eating raw chicken over the side of a tank, and lying still in a bath with its mouth zip-tied shut.
Defending, James Gray, told the court: “Mr Betts is not being prosecuted for neglect or mistreatment. What he is hoping to achieve is by working with the appropriate departments of the council he can one day obtain a licence and apply to get the alligator back.”
The unlicensed alligator was seized by inspectors from Rotherham Borough Council’s animal welfare service on 11 July, and has since reportedly been kept at an unspecified park in Liverpool 70 miles away.
