I came across this story awhile back, and its just too good not to write about. So, picture this; you’re a law enforcement officer in Kansas City, MO and you show up one morning at a home to evict the tenant, along with his belongings, only to find his “belongings” include a 7-foot alligator.
Law enforcement officers arrived at the home of Sean Casey in southeast Kansas City, Missouri to evict him from the home he was renting, giving him just a short time to gather his possessions. They soon found his possessions included 3 python snakes, several domesticated dogs and cats, a rabbit named “Dinner” and a 7-foot alligator affectionately called “Katfish” that was found lounging in a hot tub at the home. The officers had to enlist the help of animal control officers and the operator of a local exotic wildlife rescue group called “Monkey Island.” It took 5 of them to remove the gator, and after a lengthy rodeo, Katfish was finally extracted from the hot tub and exiled to Monkey Island.
Casey said he got Katfish when he was only 15 to 18 inches long and now, 4 years later he was 7 feet long and weighted 200 ponds. Casey insisted “Gators are not big and ferocious like people think. Katfish doesn’t seem to know he’s an alligator and thinks he’s a dog. He likes to come out and play and sit on my lap. Sometimes he gets kinda’ smelly but he wags his tail when I come home.” Casey said “I tell people I have an alligator that can’t swim and is afraid of the dark and thunderstorms.” Casey said he fed Katfish chicken nuggets, steak, deer and fish. Now, maybe I’m the odd one out here, but I’ve always kinda’ liked pets I can scratch without fear of loosing my hand.
I personally think Casey was being really naïve. I have to think ole’ Katfish made secret nightly soirees out into the hood for snacks. I’ll bet if you only knew, that neighborhood was devoid of most anything else on 4 legs but Katfish, and was possibly missing a few occupants on 2 legs as well. Parts of Kansas City always have a whitetail deer problem and that would have been a novel “natural” solution. Since Kansas deer have never seen the likes of a gator before, ole’ Katfish could’ve probably waltzed right up to grazing whitetails, wished them a good evening and invited them for dinner… his dinner, that is. On a map, it looks like the house where Casey and Katfish lived was very near a pond and not far from the Little Blue River, so after dinner, a short waddle to either body of water would allow him to dispose of any remains and no one would have been the wiser. Katfish must have had a special “Don’t Eat Us” contract with the rest of the pets including the rabbit named “Dinner,” and with Casey too for that matter. After all, if Casey were to disappear, who would’ve paid the electric bill to keep his hot tub warm? Casey told reporters he had made Katfish a ramp to get himself in and out of the hot tub and the house. So, I guess theoretically, after his late-night banquet, all he had to do was just drag his fat and sassy carcass back up the ramp, plop back into his comfy warm hot tube sanctuary and life would be good; he’d been livin’ the dream!
Wait, what??? Yes, you read all that correctly. I don’t understand how people don’t foresee that a 15-inch alligator will eventually grow into a 7-footer. I mean, I have never heard of a “pygmy” alligator. You have to wonder if that neighborhood in Kansas City has a long list of unsolved missing-person cases, and maybe a lower-than-average homeless population to boot. Good luck trying to convict a 7-foot gator for homicide, but I’ll bet high profile attorneys from around the world would’ve lined-up to defend him. I can hear the opening arguments now; “Your honor, my client pleads not guilty. The state has failed to provide one single shred of evidence against Mr. Katfish. There were no bodies found, no murder weapons recovered and as for motive, well he was just hungry!” Then one day after a recess for lunch, the prosecuting attorney didn’t show up, and the rest of his team says he/she has just disappeared…wait, Uh Oh!…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].
