New Alligator Song Created For Hamburg’s Albert The Alligator

For 34 years, many people in Western New York had an alligator for a neighbor, and they had no idea. 

Albert the Alligator has lived with Tony Cavallaro for the last 34 years in Hamburg, NY. Tony found Albert when he was just 2 months old at a reptile show, and since then, they have spent the last 34 years together. 

Albert the Alligator has certainly grown since then, weighing 750 lbs and measuring 11 ft long. Albert would need a big area to call home, and Cavallaro gave him quite the hook up when it came to making Albert feel at home. 

Take a look at some of the pictures of the indoor pool and green room that Cavallaro had specially made for his alligator. 

Cavallaro shared a post on Facebook (that has since been deleted), detailing what happened when Albert was confiscated. 

Tony wrote: 

“The DEC and SPCA took Albert away from me saying that I put people in harm’s way with him. Everyone who has met Albert or knows Albert knows that this is not true. I took care of him better than most people take care of their kids. They changed the rules 2 years ago about what you need to do to have an alligator.” 

Tony has had the alligator for 34 years, as mentioned above, and said that he abided by all of the rules, renewing his permit annually as required. 

“I tried renewing it when they changed their rules and had questions to ask. They ignored my emails and phone calls to make sure I did everything right even though I should be grandfathered in. I will have a court date when they provide it.”

When the DEC and the SPCA arrived at Tony’s house to take Albert away, Cavallaro wrote on Facebook that they had “at least 20 or more agents to my house in full body armor and guns treating me like a criminal.”

Since then, a petition has been started on Change.com, where over 100,000 people have signed their names in support of Albert, in hopes that he is returned to Tony. 

T-shirts, pins, and even a song has been written and performed in Albert’s honor. 

You can hear a portion of the Albert the Alligator song below. 

What do you think: should Albert be returned to Tony? Where is Albert now?