Officials seize pet alligator that family kept illegally for 37 years

(CNN) Jaxson the alligator had apparently been living with the Mattson family for more than 37 years.

But their decades of life together came to an abrupt end this week when Los Angeles animal control officers raided their home and seized the 8-foot female alligator.

“You cannot own a reptile … like this in the City of Los Angeles without having a proper permit. And obviously for an alligator, we would not permit that,” Mark Salazar, the head of field operations for Los Angeles Animal Services, told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS.

City officials say they found the carcasses of two dead cats next to Jaxson in a covered box in the backyard of the house in the Van Nuys area of the city.

More