Perpetrator pelted the reptiles with rocks
Two American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) injured during a break-in at a Stroudsburg, Penn., home are being shipped today via a Medivac flight to Spartan Animal Hospital in McFarland, Wisc., for veterinary surgical care.
The alligators’ owner, John Boyko, elected to have them shipped to the hospital to be cared for by reptile surgery and anesthesia expert Michael Wenninger, DVM. Boyko supplies alligators for use in the entertainment industry.
The perpetrator allegedly threw 50 rocks at the alligators. One alligator sustained a fractured femur, and the other suffered a prolapse. Post-surgery recovery at the animal hospital is expected to last between 12 and 16 weeks before the animals can be shipped back to their home in Pennsylvania.
Alligator mississippiensis can grow to nearly 19 feet with adulthood starting at around 7 feet. The range of this crocodilian is primarly the southeastern quarter of the United States, from North Carolina to Florida and west and central Texas to Arkansas. They can be found primarly in freshwater ponds, marshes, and rivers.
