Why do they make it so easy to get an American Alligator??

[Alysser]

I am slowly getting very into reptiles and amphibians, I can't have one for another few years but it will happen. I work with them on a Daily basis at my job. I've been watching Youtube videos lately and there are some reptile keepers who have smaller American Alligators. I will say most of them really seem to know what they're doing and have researched what they got themselves into...however, I was recently on a website and found that they sell them. You basically just have to click "order"....I mean of course it depends on the state and they I am sure have to follow those laws to but to me it's just ridiculous how easy they make it to get an animal of this caliber.
http://www.backwaterreptiles.com/alligators/alligator-for-sale.html

So for less then $100 you can own your very own Alligator. I can see, maybe a Caiman, they don't get nearly as big but for the idiots who don't think about pets this is a dangerously bad idea. They're so cute as babies, and I even realize that but do people not realize that these things get 7-8 feet???? Just a bad bad idea all around, I don't get why they have to sell these out so easily. :(

And Sorry wasn't sure where to put this really.

[Catty1]

Could be there are no laws as yet to curb that - or they aren't being enforced.

We had a tragic case here of two young boys visiting overnight at a friend's place - both families were close. The friend's place was over the family pet store - exotics. A python excaped through a loose vent into the upstairs. I don't think I have to write more on that. :(

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/python-enclosure-in-n-b-boys-deaths-had-flaw-1.1384533

[Alysser]

I did read that story somewhere, and while it is very tragic I don't have a problem with people owning Burmese Pythons if they can actually take care of it. I know a guy who has a 10 footer and he is a wonderful snake dad. But with these kinds of animals you get the idiots that release them into places like the everglades or that can't even cage them properly. I think they're a bit more manageable then a huge Alligator.

I don't really think wildlife laws are enforced nearly enough and I think that's the issue. New Jersey, the nanny state of the US, allows American Alligators with a permit. Why they're even allowed is what concerns me. I feel like the permits are to easy to get. I understand that people who can house, feed, and keep them for LIFE want them but for someone who can't they are far too easy to own.

[Karen]

The Dog House is the right place to put this, as some consider it controversial. I am wondering if one applies for a permit, if any kind of checks are made ... And I am sure it varies state to state!

[Catty1]

A number of the reptiles removed from the store were sadly put down as there was no legal place to put them. :( I wish people who buy or deal in these creatures could read the existing laws and think things through.

The shop owner and the dad of the two boys were great friends. Devastating for all concerned.