A local shelter is caring for an alligator that was discovered Tuesday along the Allegheny River in Lawrenceville.
Officials with Humane Animal Rescue said “Gus the Gator” was spotted by a good Samaritan and brought to the rescue’s East End Animal Resource Center on Hamilton Avenue.
Clinic Services Manager Emily Peretti said Gus is the seventh alligator brought to the shelter’s East End location so far this year.
He’s about 3 feet long. He’ll eventually be taken to a sanctuary unless an owner claims him.
“We don’t know much about this little guy right now. I believe that just some people were enjoying themselves under the bridge in Lawrenceville. … They found the alligator in some shallow water and they called Animal Control, who picked him up and then brought him into us,” Peretti said Thursday.
Humane Animal Rescue named the gator Gus and shared photos of him on its Facebook page.
“Don’t get us wrong, we love having this little guy around, but wasn’t 6 alligators in 1 year enough?” the post read. “Hey Florida, you can keep your ’gators!”
Other gators have been spotted in South Side Riverfront Park; on a porch on the 300 block of East Agnew Avenue in Carrick; and in front of a garage on Sebring Avenue in Beechview.
Madasyn Lee and Michael DiVittorio are Tribune-Review staff writers.
