Alligator taken from a Des Moines home.

Animal Rescue League workers in Des Moines have removed an alligator from a home. The owner was keeping it as a pet. Josh Colvin, with the ARL of Iowa, says the alligator is currently two-foot long, but growing.

“Talking to an expert, he’s thinking it’s a male alligator that can get up to 17-feet long,” Colvin says. It’s illegal in Iowa to keep a wild animal like an alligator as a pet. Colvin says there are a couple of reasons for concern.

“One is obviously for other people in the house, people coming over, kids…there’s a concern for their safety and for the animal,” Colvin says. A police report shows an infant child and a dog were also in the home.

The alligator was being kept in a tank in the living room. Colvin isn’t sure where the home owner obtained the creature. “The question was posed, but we didn’t get an answer about where it came from,” Colvin said. The alligator is being sent to a rescue organization.

The dog was also taken from the home. Police cited Colby Karaidos for possessing the alligator.