It’s See You Later, Alligator, After Paramedics Respond to a 911 Call

One thing you can say about life as a paramedic: It can be a jungle out there.

Just ask Craig Welday. The Redondo Beach firefighter went out on a 911 call this week and soon became an unwitting participant in a scene akin to a National Geographic Society special.

After responding to a call Wednesday from an 18-year-old woman complaining of a head injury, paramedics found themselves looking at an array of exotic animals in the woman’s apartment, including a piranha, an iguana and several lizards.

But the big surprise came when Welday opened the door to a large glass cage and looked into the eyes of a four-foot-long American alligator.

“He hissed at me and got up on all fours, and I jumped back a little and then he jumped,” said Welday. “I think I scared him as much as he scared me.

“As a paramedic, I’ve seen all kinds of things in people’s houses. But I’ve never come across an alligator like this.”

Paramedics called in Redondo Beach police animal control officers and state Fish and Game Department officials, who confiscated the alligator and destroyed the piranha.

Phil McKay, warden for Fish and Game, said officials are still trying to determine whether the unidentified owners of the pets had permits, and thus they have not yet decided whether to file charges. Piranhas are illegal in California, and it has been unlawful to keep alligators in the state since 1987, except under special circumstances.

“There’s not a lot of information available right now about the ownership of the pets, so we’re waiting,” McKay said. “It’s not that uncommon to run across an alligator, but this is the first piranha I’ve seen in four years.”

Paramedics said they thought that the 911 call was strange because the woman, who was not identified, said she couldn’t remember her name or where she was. She was taken to South Bay Hospital, where she was treated and released.

The alligator was taken to the Humane Society in Hawthorne, where it will be kept until the investigation is completed. Fish and Game officials said the animals were all in very good shape.

Moira Gullett, a Redondo police animal control officer, said the alligator was the first she has seen in 10 years with the department, but such pet reptiles have been found before in the South Bay.

Last year a six-foot alligator was confiscated from the back yard of a Carson resident who kept the pet in a fenced-in wading pool. The pet was later returned to the owner amid public outcry.

In the Redondo case, “The woman kept telling us that she wanted the animals to be taken care of,” Welday said. “And they were.”