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Alligator Rescue In the Desert Leads Police To Bonus Kangaroo
Alligators are probably not something these cops prepared for handling at the academy, but two Lancaster deputies found themselves on gator patrol this week.
After receiving a call of "suspicious activity" near the corner of 50th Street West and Avenue K on Tuesday morning, police investigated, according to an LASD bulletin. A caller said two women had a four-foot alligator and it looked they were about to abandon the poor critter in the desert. The women then loaded the alligator in the back of the van and the vigilant caller followed, continuing to call police to update them on the situation.
Turns out there was a simple explanation and it was not a case of gator abandonment: The women admitted, yes, they had an alligator in their van and they also had a kangaroo. They then explained that they are part of the “Zoo to You” program located in Paso Robles.
Alligator Cops! We're going to pitch that to Fox! (Photo courtesy of LASD.)
They said they had left Quartz Hill Elementary School after showing the students the animals and were traveling back to Paso Robles when they had to make an emergency stop on 50th Street West. It seems the alligator forgot to use the restroom before leaving the school and soiled its cage. The women had to stop the van and remove the alligator in order to clean its cage.
Naturally, the deputies took time for a photo op before, as the LASD press release cleverly notes, saying "later, alligator." Sad to say, they apparently did not take any photos of the kangaroo.