Watch Out for Lost Pet Scams

Losing a pet is a devastating experience. Many reports have been received about scammers who are defrauding heartbroken pet owners in order to line their own pockets and we advise pet owners who have issued an amber alert to be wary of the following pet scams:

“Scammers play on your emotions”, said Mechele Agbayani Mills, President and CEO of BBB. “Pet owners who have lost their animals are easy targets for those whose sole intent is to make a quick buck.”

The Pay-Me-First Scam: The lost pet owner receives a phone call from a person claiming that they have the lost pet in their possession. This person asks that the reward money be sent to them before they return the pet. If the pet owner refuses, they will often threaten to hurt the pet in order to pressure the pet owner into sending money. Once the scammer receives the money, they are never heard from again.

The Truck Driver Scam: Someone claiming to be a long-haul truck driver tells you that he came across your pet while on his route. He then asks you to send him money so that he can send your pet back to you, or he may ask you to wire him money to board your pet until he can send your pet back with another truck driver who’s heading your way.

The Tag Team Scam: You receive a call from someone who says that they think they have your pet. After talking to you for a while and getting information about your pet, they apologize and say that they’re sorry, but it turns out that it’s not your pet after all. They then give all the information about your pet to a partner. This is a set-up — in a short time, the scammer uses the information received about your pet only to have a second person call and claim to have found your pet who will try collect any reward money in advance..

The Airline Ticket Scam: Someone calls and claims that your pet somehow ended up in another state. They ask you to send money for a kennel and an airline ticket in order for them to ship your pet back to you. Once the pet owner sends the money, the scammer walks away with it, leaving the owner without their pet and with less money in their bank account.

BBB provides the following tips to keep from falling victim to a pet loss scam:

1. If you must place an ad, include only essential information. Refrain from providing information about unique markings or physical attributes.

2. If you get a call from someone who claims to be out-of-state, ask them for a phone number where you can call them back.

3. If a caller claims to have your pet in their possession, ask them to describe something about the pet that wouldn’t be visible in pictures which may have been posted.

4. Never wire money to anyone you don’t know.

Many pet owners have also had their pets microchipped, as this preventive measure has proven to be effective in bringing lost pets home.

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FDA Cautions Dog Owners of Treats

The Food and Drug Administration continues to caution that certain chicken jerky products for dogs—also sold as chicken tenders, strips, or treats—are associated with illness in dogs.

According to a Nov. 18, 2011, update, the FDA has seen an increase during the past 12 months in the number of complaints from dog owners and veterinarians regarding illnesses in dogs associated with consumption of chicken jerky products from China.

The FDA issued warnings regarding chicken jerky products in September 2007 and December 2008. The number of complaints dropped off during late 2009 and most of 2010 before rising again.

The agency advises consumers who feed chicken jerky products to their dogs to watch them for any of the following signs of illness: a decrease in appetite; a decrease in activity; vomiting; diarrhea, sometimes with blood; an increase in water consumption; or an increase in urination.

Dog owners should consult their veterinarian if their dogs have signs of illness that are severe or persist for more than 24 hours. Blood tests might indicate kidney failure, and urine tests might indicate Fanconi syndrome. Although most dogs appear to recover, some reports to the FDA involved dogs that died.

The FDA and several U.S. animal health diagnostic laboratories are working to determine why these products are associated with illness in dogs. The agency continues chemical and microbial testing of the products but has not identified a contaminant.

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Dog Has Successful Surgery To Remove Spoon From Stomach

An Annapolis, Maryland woman may be out a lot of money, but she still has her beloved Labrador Retriever, Vincent.

Last Wednesday, when Laurie Neomany noticed Vincent wasn't eating his food, she took him to the vet for testing and that is when technicians discovered a seven-inch spoon lodged in his stomach.

Neomany said the surgery was successful and Vincent was back home the next day, minus the $2,500 medical bill.

So You’re Thinking About Giving Up Your Pet?

This is a copy of a post that I read. I am not the original author.  This was written by a Shelter Director. This Director is not at any of the shelters that I have visited. This may be what is going on at his shelter, but I have been behind the scenes in the shelters that I post adoption events on, and they are not like this.

So You’re Thinking About Giving Up Your Pet? You Might Want to Reconsider. You can’t keep your pet? Really?
~By a Shelter Director

Our society needs a huge “Wake-up” call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all…a “view from the inside” – if you will.

First off, any of you whom have surrendered a pet to a shelter or humane society should be made to work in the “back” of an animal shelter – for just ONE DAY.

Maybe if you saw the life drain from those sad, lost, confused eyes, you’d stop flagging the ads on here and help these animals find homes. That puppy you just dropped off will most-likely end up in my shelter when it’s no longer a cute little puppy anymore. Just so you know, there’s a 90% chance that your dog will never walk out back out, once entered in to the shelter system…Purebred or not! About 25% of all of the dogs that are “owner surrenders” or “strays” that come into a shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses: “We’re moving and can’t take our dog (or cat).” Really? Where are you moving to that doesn’t allow pets?
Or they say “The dog got bigger than we thought it would”. How big did you think a German Shepherd would get?

“We don’t have time for her”. Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs!

“She’s tearing up our yard”. How about making her a part of your family?

“We just don’t want to have to stress about finding a place for her & we know she’ll get adopted, she’s a good dog”.  Odds are, your pet won’t get adopted  & how stressful do you think it is for your pet?

Did you know…

Your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off? Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn’t full  and your dog/cat manages to stay completely healthy.
If it sniffles, it is euthanized.

Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room
with other barking & crying animals.

It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps.
It will be depressed and will cry constantly for you.
If your pet is lucky, there will be enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk.
If not, your pet won’t get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of it’s pen with a high-powered hose.
If your dog is big, black or any of the “Bully” breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.
If your cat is scared and doesn’t act friendly enough, or if it catches a cold (which most of them ‘do’), it will be put to sleep.

Those dogs & cats just don’t get adopted. In most cases, it doesn’t matter how ‘sweet’ or ‘well behaved’ they are. If your pet doesn’t get adopted within it’s 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn’t full and your pet is good enough,
and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution,
but not for long.

Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are
destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.

If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because the shelter gets paid a fee to euthanize each animal and making money is better than spending money to take this animal to the vet.

Here’s a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being “put-down”.

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk…happy, wagging their tails…until they get to “The Room”, every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when they get to the door.
It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there. It’s strange, but it happens with every one of them.

Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 shelter workers, depending on the size and how freaked out they are.
Then a shelter worker who we call a “euthanasia tech (not a vet)”
finds a vein in the front leg and injects a lethal dose of the “pink stuff”.

Hopefully your pet doesn’t panic from being restrained and jerks.
I’ve seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood…the yelps and screams are deafening.

They all don’t just “go to sleep”, sometimes they spasm for a while,
gasp for air and defecate on themselves.

You see, shelters are trying to make money to pay employee pay checks and then, there’s the board of directors…who need to be paid too!

Consequently, corners are cut, & we don’t spend our funds to
tranquilize the animal before injecting them with the lethal drug,
we just put the burning lethal drug in their vein and let them suffer until dead.

If it were not a business for profit, we’d do it humanely and hire a
licensed vet do this procedure. That way, the animal would be sedated or tranquilized and THEN euthanized.

But to do this procedure correctly would only cost more money…
so we don’t necessarily do what is right for the animal, we do what’s expedient so we can continue to make a buck!

Shelters do not have to have a vet perform their euthanasia procedures. Oftentimes, they are untrained personnel administering lethal injections. So… that employee may take 50 pokes with a needle and 3 hours to get inside the vein.

In the end, your pet’s corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer, usually in the back of the building with all of the other animals that were killed. There they will sit until being picked up like garbage.

What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? Or used for schools to dissect and experiment on?

You’ll never know and it probably won’t even cross your mind. After all, it was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?!

I hope that those of you who still have a beating heart and have read this are bawling your eyes out and can’t get the pictures out of your head. I deal with this everyday. I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make changes and start educating yourselves, your children, the public.
Do the research, do your homework, and know exactly what you are getting into before getting a pet. These shelters and humane societies exist because people just do not care about animals anymore. And PLEASE stop breeding!

Animals were not intended to be disposable but somehow that is what they’ve become.

Cheetah, The Chimpanzee that Starred in Tarzan Movies Dead at Age 80

Condolences poured in to a Florida primate sanctuary Wednesday after it announced the death of Cheetah, a chimpanzee that the sanctuary said starred in the Tarzan movies during the 1930s.

The chimpanzee died Saturday after suffering kidney failure the week before, the sanctuary foundation said on the site. He was roughly 80 years old, Debbie Cobb, the sanctuary's outreach director, told CNN affiliate WFLA.

Cobb recalled Cheetah as an outgoing chimp who loved finger painting and watching football and who was soothed by Christian music, the station said.

Several chimpanzees appeared in various Tarzan movies, many of which were popular in the 1930a and 1940s. The Florida primate sanctuary said its chimp appeared in the Tarzan moves from 1932 through 1934, according to WFLA.

According to the website Tarzanmovieguide.com, "Tarzan the Ape Man" was released in 1932 and "Tarzan and his Mate" in 1934. Both movies starred Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. Weissmuller was the first speaking Tarzan, according to the Internet Movie Database website. He died in 1984.

Weissmuller appeared in Tarzan movies through 1948, according to the online movie guide site, with other chimpanzees appearing in the role of Cheetah.

Cheetah came to the primate sanctuary from Weissmuller's Florida estate around 1960, Cobb told WFLA. He was the most famous of the sanctuary's 15 chimpanzees.

"He was very compassionate," Cobb said. "He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day. He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day. He was very in tune to human feelings."

Cheetah was known for his ability to stand up and walk like a person, sanctuary volunteer Ron Priest told WFLA.

Another distinguishing characteristic: "When he didn't like somebody or something that was going on, he would pick up some poop and throw it at them," Priest said. "He could get you at 30 feet with bars in between."

Still, Cobb told the station, "He wasn't a chimp that caused a lot of problems."

Cheetah is not believed to have any children, Priest said.

His age was advanced for a chimpanzee, Cobb told WFLA. In the wild, the average chimp survives 25 to 35 years, she said, and they can live 35 to 45 years in zoos.

Another chimpanzee named Cheeta lives on a primate sanctuary in Southern California named C.H.E.E.T.A (Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes). The sanctuary's creator, Dan Westfall, said on its web site that he was saddened to hear of Cheetah's passing in Florida. He said he and others at the sanctuary "send our deepest sympathies to our colleagues at Suncoast."

Westfall writes on the site that he was told Cheeta was one of the original chimps in the Tarzan movies during the 1930s and 1940s. However, when he began working with a writer on Cheeta's biography, research revealed "that our Cheeta is unlikely to be as old as we'd thought, although he is clearly old," Westfall wrote. "It is also difficult to determine which movies, if any, our Cheeta may have been in."

People from several countries offered condolences for Cheetah on the Florida sanctuary's site in several different languages. A few credited him with helping them develop a love for animals.

"Cheetah will remain forever remembered in history," someone in Malta wrote.

Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan hold hands with Cheetah the chimpanzee in "Tarzan and His Mate."

Man Donates Ton of Dog Food to Animal Shelter

A local resident delivered a surprise early Christmas present to the Humane Society of North Iowa last week.

“He told us that he’d like to make a donation of a ton of dog food. It just blew us away. We were overwhelmed. That’s two thousand pounds,” said Executive Director Sybil Soukup.

Garth Jordan of Osage, Iowa droped off fifty, forty-pound bags of dog food at the shelter last Thursday. The donation, valued at approximately $1000, will account for roughly half of the Humane Society’s annual food supply.

Like most non-profits, the Humane Society does not receive state or federal funding, and relies on donations in order to maintain operations.

“We have a lot of donors here in Mason City, corporations that do donate, but it’s just never enough. It seems like so this was really a great Christmas gift,” said shelter manager Tracy Hamand.

Jordan’s generosity will spare the shelter’s dogs from a common ailment: digestive upset caused by constant changes in diet.  Soukup says allowing the dogs to eat the same brand of food for six months will keep them healthier.

“When you switch brands it often causes digestive issues or can weaken an immune system for a dog and so by keeping them on the same diet for a long length of time it keeps them healthier. And it helps them gain weight if they’re needing to do that,” she said.

When asked why he was making such a generous donation, Jordan said he just wanted to do something kind in memory of one of his beloved former dogs.

Cat Inherits $13 Million Fortune Including Cash, Properties in Rome and Milan

A 4-year-old stray cat that was rescued from the streets of Rome has inherited a $13 million fortune from its owner, the wealthy widow of an Italian property tycoon.

Maria Assunta left the fortune to her beloved kitty, Tommaso when she died two weeks ago at the age of 94. The feline's newfound riches include cash, properties in Rome and Milan, and land in Calabria.

As her health began to fail two years ago, Assunta, who had no children, began to look for a way to see that Tommaso was properly cared for after she died.

Assunta first told her attorneys to leave her estate to an animal welfare association who would care for Tommaso. But when she was not satisfied with any suitable group to care for Tommaso, in 2009, Assunta decided to leave all her money to the cat via her nurse Stefania, who cared for her until she died.

Stefania said she had no idea Assunta was so wealthy.

"The old lady suffered from loneliness," the nurse said. "She looked after that cat more than you'd look after a son."

Tommaso and Stefania, along with another cat, are living outside Rome at an undisclosed address.

The windfall for Tommaso places him at No. 3 on the list of wealthy pets. He ranks behind Kalu the chimp, whose owner left him $80 million dollars, and a German shepherd named Gunther IV, who inherited $372 million dollars from an eccentric German countess.

Real estate magnate Leona Helmsley famously left $12 million to her little dog Trouble. After her human descendents contested, Trouble's pot was cut to $2 million.

Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Washington, DC - Animals Paint Adorable Pictures

Sans berets, smocks or palettes, the animals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are getting their paws dirty with non-toxic, water-based paint and creating one-of-a-kind works of art. Painting is one among many activities that fall under Animal Enrichment—a program that provides physically and mentally stimulating activities and environments for the Zoo’s residents. The animals have the opportunity not only to choose how to behave, but also to use their natural abilities and behaviors in new and exciting ways.

Enrichment is an integral part of the daily care of the species in the Zoo’s collection. Keepers and curators carefully study animal behavior and determine what kinds of enrichment are appropriate for each species and, occasionally, individual animals. Keepers have a number of novel options for enrichment. They may alter an exhibit; train an animal; introduce new smells, sounds, foods, and objects; or enlist an animal in a research project, such as a study about foraging skills or cognitive research. Adding a variety of engaging activities helps keepers ensure the Zoo’s animals have a high quality of life.
              
Though the subjects of the animals’ paintings remain mysterious, the ways visitors can support the Zoo’s enrichment program are as clear as a starry, starry night. Drop off any size canvas, art paper, paint brush or non-toxic, water-based paint at the Visitor Center for the animal care staff to distribute. Animal keepers are collecting gifts for the animals this holiday season. Browse the list of needed items on the Enrichment Giving Tree section of the Zoo’s website or the Enrichment page of the Zoo’s online store.

Art produced by many of the Zoo’s mammal and bird residents will be available for purchase at the National Capital chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) Art Show, which will take place spring 2012.
                      

Burt Ward as Robin in the Batman Series – Is Now a Canine Crusader! He and His Wife Tracy are the Founders of Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions

Have you ever wondered…whatever happened to Robin of the Batman series.  Well, I have found him and he is doing great work for animals! He was the Caped Crusader…now he is the Canine Crusader!

I had the pleasure of interviewing him for his story in The Pet Tree House. He played Robin in the Batman television series that aired from January 1966 to March 1968.

In 1994, he and his wife, Tracy, founded a charitable organization called Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, Inc., located in Norco, California. They rescue giant breed dogs like Great Danes and some smaller breed dogs. Their work with the organization has been featured in such outlets as People magazine, ASPCA Animal Watch, Hard Copy, Inside Edition, and Entertainment Tonight. Mr. Ward was also seen in an episode of Animal Planet's Adoption Tales.

About Gentle Giants Rescue

We have 45 different traditional and unique breeds from all over the world to choose, all of which are behaviorally trained, easy to handle, great with kids, and socialized with dogs, cats and other animals.

Meet some of the beautiful dogs at the Gentle Giants Rescue! The video below shows 27 of the dogs in the Wards bedroom…or should I say…all over the bedroom!

Adam West and Burt Ward, TV's famed "Batman" and "Robin," provide the voices of "Young Mermaid Man" and "Young Barnacle Boy" in an episode of "SpongeBob Square Pants."

Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network for three seasons from January 1966 to March 1968. The show was aired twice weekly for its first two seasons, and 120 episodes were produced in total.

Everyday Wildlife Champions - Exotic Red-Tailed Tropicbird, Stowaway Aboard a Ship from Korea - Flies Home, by Plane

Everyday Wildlife Champion was founded in 2009, and views saving wildlife as an everyday thing. It's doing simple tasks, little by little, to make a huge difference.

Company Overview - They are sponsored by Dawn, a brand that’s been active in helping save wildlife for 30 years.

An exotic red-tailed tropicbird  that arrived in Los Angeles as a stowaway aboard a ship from Korea took an unusual flight home via Hawaii to Midway Atoll has been rehabilitated at International Bird Rescue's Wildlife Center in Los Angeles.

Red-tailed Tropicbirds nest throughout the southern Pacific Ocean, from the Hawaiian Islands to Western Australia as well as in the Indian Ocean. They disperse widely after breeding, and birds with numbered leg bands from Hawaii have been discovered as far away as Japan and the Philippines.

To catch their prey in the wild, mostly flying fish and squid, the tropicbird flies high into the air and dives with wings half-folded into the water. However, in aviaries they cannot fly high enough to plunge for food, and consequently remain sitting on the water and must be force-fed.

The bird has been in quarantine in its own private pool at International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Wildlife Center in San Pedro, and has now passed all of its required health tests and has been approved for release.

We Have All Heard of Pet Insurance for Your Dog or Cat – Did You Know that There is an Insurance Company that Will Cover Your Horse or Pony?

Did you know that after buying a home or a car, a horse can be one of the most expensive purchases that many people make? You protect your family, home, cars and even your pets with insurance, so why not your horse?

You probably never thought about it…or even knew that there was a such thing as “horse or pony” insurance.

According to Neal King, former president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, vet’s fees are increasing at around 11% year on year. Could you afford to pay your horse’s vet’s bill if it ran into hundreds, or even thousands of pounds? Many of us couldn’t, which is why it makes sense to protect yourself should the unexpected happen, with good quality horse insurance.

I want to tell you about a company that can give you the added protection that you need for your horse or pony.

What They Offer:

They excel in offering comprehensive cover for your horse or pony. They are dedicated to providing you with competitive premiums and a great product. Horse-insurance.co.uk provides the coverage, and gives you the freedom to choose a policy that suits your requirements.

On their website, they have an easy to use quote system which will allow you to build a policy unique to your requirements. You will be able to get your instant quotation and then proceed to buying online and having instant cover. Their horse and pony insurance is an exclusive online policy.

Horse-Insurance.co.uk is a scheme administered and underwritten by Equine & Livestock Insurance Co. Ltd. (Registered in England & Wales no. 294940) which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA register number 202748). Equine & Livestock Insurance Co. Ltd is also a member of the Association of British Insurers and the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Animals are Helping Wounded Warriors

Wounded Warriors heal with help of iconic animals. In Arlington,Virginia, when  Lt. Col. Sam Nerove grabs the reigns to guide a 2000 pound horse, she is taking control of something else too.

"I was in the deepest, darkest, hell hole," says Nerove.

She was injured in the early 1990s in Dessert Storm. She returned to combat in Iraq in 2008.

"Similar environment. More rockets, bombs, bullets, and bodies," says Nerove.

Soon her post traumatic stress disorder  was so bad she had to be medevaced out.

"It got so bad that I couldn't even tell the difference between tents and buildings," says Nerove.

She still jumps at the sound of a plane landing at nearby Reagan National. She takes a deep breath and then resumes talking.

Nerove is part of the Caisson Platoon Equine Assisted Program at Fort Myer.

"Through this program, I have learned that I can do anything. If I can guide a horse, I can guide my life," says Nerove.

At a rider's side, members of the Old Guard. These are the same horses that pull the caisson at Arlington National Cemetery.

"If these horses weren't out here carrying their wounded comrades on their backs, they'd be pulling the caisson carrying one of their fallen comrades to their final resting place," says Larry Pence, a retired Command Sgt. Major in the Army.

The program's been in place since 2006 and so far they've had about 125 wounded warriors out riding.

"The one thing they all have in common is that they all want to be contributing members of our society. It's humbling and inspirational every Thursday for me and it's just a blessing, of course, to be a part of it," says Pence.

He and retired Navy Commander Mary Jo Beckman started the program. Brian Isenhouer was stationed in Italy when he suffered a head injury in a car accident. He hopes driving the wagon is preparing him to one day get his driver's license back.

"It's helped me a lot, really it has," says Isenhouer.

The program's being expanded nationwide.

"There was nothing to really prepare me for just the magic, the magic of what this really is and what it does," says Nerove.

Rare Baby Seahorse Found in London River

The discovery of a baby seahorse in east London raised the possibility that a colony of the rare creatures is living in the River Thames, scientists said.

The short-snouted juvenile hippocampus was discovered during a routine fisheries survey at Greenwich, suggesting that adult seahorses were breeding nearby, the UK's Environment Agency said Friday.

The cute creatures once thought only to visit Britain during warm weather were declared protected in 2008 after several were found near the mouth of the Thames. Those sightings raised scientists' hopes that a family could be living in the river.

The latest discovery was the furthest inland that the seahorses were detected so far.

"We hope that further improvements to water quality and habitat in the Thames will encourage more of these rare species to take up residence in the river," Environment Agency fisheries officer Emma Barton said.

Seahorses are one of the few animals that mate for life, after elaborate courtship rituals.

The National Aquarium, Washington, DC - Unveiled an Extremely Rare Albino Alligator

On October 7, the National Aquarium, Washington, DC, unveiled an extremely rare albino alligator in the new Secrets of the Swamp, here for a very limited time. Don't miss this opportunity to get up close to this rare and special animal!

An extremely rare albino alligator from the swamps of Louisiana is taking up residence in Washington, D.C., dazzling visitors with her brilliant white skin.

The 3-year-old is the first of its kind ever to go on exhibition at the National Aquarium,  home to more than 200 marine species from goldfish and frogs to piranhas and sharks.

"There are less than 100 albino alligators in the world," Ryan Dumas, a herpetologist  at the tourist attraction, told AFP on Thursday. "They are very rare."

Hatched in captivity in, after its egg was found in the wild, the ghost-like alligator with pink eyes came to Washington via the privately owned Saint Augustine Alligator Farm in Florida.

"Local lore in parts of Louisiana, is that it's incredible good luck to see an albino alligator," Dumas said, adding however that because of their color, few if any survive in the wild.

"A white alligator is going to have a very hard time keeping itself hidden in a dark swamp," said Dumas, because the lack of camouflage exposes hatchlings to predators or gives them away to prey.

The alligator, which dines on fish and rodents, will be on display until February of next year. A facebook campaign will be launched by the aquarium shortly, to give her a name.