Humane Society must OK gator adoption

Sue Doyle

NEWPORT BEACH -- A Humane Society investigation this weekend temporarily

snagged a Claremont family’s plans for the immediate adoption of three

juvenile alligators.

Jackie Jacobsen and her husband, John, are now waiting for approval from

the Pomona Humane Society before they can adopt three young gators found

in a Newport Beach hot tub last week. Jackie Jacobsen said someone

clipped the Daily Pilot article that featured the couple and sent it to

the Humane Society.

Officers from the state Fish and Game Department last Tuesday seized the

three alligators from the home of former professional surfer Daniel

Flecky. He could not be reached for comment Monday.

“You try to do a good deed for somebody and it ends up not working out

that way,” Jackie Jacobsen said.

The couple wants to add the three alligators to a menagerie of animals

they maintain at their home in Claremont. The mini-zoo contains spider

monkeys, squirrel monkeys and some turtles.

But the Pomona Humane Society is now reviewing permits that allow the

Jacobsens to own the exotic animals.

Jackie Jacobsen said she’s not too concerned about the investigation. She

already has the proper permits for the animals, which have lived on her

land for the past 25 years.

Meanwhile, the Newport Beach alligators are still being held at the

Orange County Animal Shelter. They’ll remain there until Fish and Game

approves the adoption, said Kathy Francis, public education officer at

the shelter.

Aside from the Jacobsens, there have been no other “serious bids” on the

alligators, Francis said.

If the adoption falls through, Francis says the facility will search for

other alternatives. The shelter mainly houses cats and dogs.

But it’s not that easy.

Francis says the Orange County Zoo doesn’t have a facility for the

alligators.

Even larger zoos in Los Angeles and San Diego, where they have full-grown

alligators, hesitate to take the little creatures.

“The bigger zoos don’t want to take them, because it would be detrimental

to the health of the little guys,” Francis said.