Alligator, Tortoises, Chickens, Pig Found Living in Home off Curlew Road
Officials found dozens of animals at the Brewton Court home Thursday, including a caged alligator and tortoises in the swimming pool.
Dozens of animals were found Thursday at a home of Curlew Road, including chickens, roosters, a pig, a caged alligator and tortoises swimming in a backyard pool, officials said Thursday.
Clearwater Police and code enforcement officials showed up at the residence in the 2600 block of Brewton Court shortly after 9 a.m. following a complaint. They had to call in the Humane Society of Pinellas and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to help with the removal of the animals and were still trying to capture some of them Thursday afternoon, police said in a media release.
There were about 30 animals at the home, according to preliminary estimates.
The homeowners, Victor Wu, 47, and Julie Wu, 43, face Clearwater city ordinance violations and a misdemeanor charge for the alligator, public safety spokesperson Elizabeth Watts said.
Charges will be referred to the State Attorney's Office for one or both of the residents, Watts said.
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Cuppajava
9:59 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Turtle soup?
Michael J. Kovac
9:57 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
Korean . They just gathering animals for food.
Ray
9:56 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
The animals which were rescued from the pool were "turtles". Tortoises are land-dwelling animals.
Katie Dolac
3:28 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
Nice catch, Ray! Clearwater Police report that "tortoises" were found swimming in a pool. Judging from the photos they supplied, it appears as if several species of both turtles and tortoises were found in the same area.
Julie Walsh
12:12 am on Monday, January 14, 2013
Not Korean, Wu is a Vietnamese name..... but at any rate there must have been a cultural barrier here.