JONES COUNTY, Miss. — Alligators are normally found near water, but Mississippi deputies responding to a domestic dispute did not expect to find one of them in a bathtub.
According to the Jones County Sheriff’s Department, deputies and narcotics agents had entered a home in a rural area of the county southeast of Laurel on July 7, WJTV reported.
A male suspect involved in the alleged dispute had fled the area, but deputies found a 2-foot baby gator in the bathtub of the residence, according to the television station.
“People are definitely getting a little more used to them and taking them in as pets, which obviously we should not do,” Jones County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Jake Driskell told WHLT-TV. “It’s dangerous, and it makes the animal depend on the humans or the public for food and things like that.
“It’s just not a good thing.”
An officer with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks responded to the scene and helped relocate the alligator into the wild, The Laurel Leader-Call reported.
Deputies said the domestic disturbance incident remains under investigation, according to WHLT.