Missing alligator on the loose in Spokane Valley

A 3-foot alligator is reportedly roaming somewhere in Spokane Valley and animal control officials have no idea where it is.

The Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service was called to the University Mobile Home Park at 9518 E. Fourth Ave. Wednesday afternoon after a caller reported that a neighbor was keeping an alligator in his backyard.

Park manager Michelle Fitzhugh said she called 911 immediately after she became aware that the alligator was in a covered pond in the man’s back yard. But the animal was gone before anyone arrived, she said.

“We don’t know what he did with it,” she said.

The presumed owner of the animal was gone when animal control officers arrived, said SCRAPS director Nancy Hill.

“We believe he had the alligator,” she said. “We haven’t seen it and we do not know where it is.”

The case of the missing gator is still under investigation. Hill said she’s been told some neighbors have pictures of the animal.

Keeping an alligator is illegal in Washington, Hill said.