Pa. man charged with cruelty for stabbing alligator

BURNHAM, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania man was charged with cruelty to animals after authorities said they found an alligator with a fatal stab wound on its back caged in a basement.

Mifflin County Regional Police said officers found 35-year-old Kurtis Perschau hiding in the basement after arriving at the Burhnam home to help Children and Youth Services workers on a call Friday.

Police said Perschau didn’t want to get in trouble for having the alligator, so he tied a large knife to a broom handle and tried to kill the alligator by stabbing it.

The alligator was transported to an animal hospital, where it was later euthanized.