VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it launched an investigation late Monday after it received a video posted to Snapchat in which a man is seen dragging an 8-foot-long alligator from an all-terrain vehicle.
The incident happened Monday near U.S. 1 and County Line Ditch Road along the Volusia-Brevard county line, FWC spokesman Chad Weber said.
The brief video appears to show a man tying the reptile to the back of the vehicle. Moments later, the animal is seen being dragged across the road.
"He's not being charged at this time," Weber said. "We are going to go through (the) appropriate channels, collect all the evidence and present a package to the state attorney's office and allow them to work through that."
Investigators said they've spoken with the man in the video, and he could be charged with animal cruelty depending on what his intentions were during the incident.
Officials wouldn't disclose what the man told wildlife officers or his possible intent.
"They are dangerous animals, and it could have turned out bad -- the gentlemen being bitten and also bringing harm to the animal," Weber said.
Volusia County resident Dan Friend called the video reprehensible.
"There's no justification for it at all," he said. "I was appalled to see the video."
Friend said the man should be punished somehow.
"I just can't believe someone would do that to an animal," he said. "I'm not talking (about) putting the guy in jail for something like that, but somebody needs to get his attention."
A wildlife trapper has the gator, which could be killed.
No other details were given.
The video been compared to an unrelated video that surfaced last year and shows three men dragging a shark from a boat off Florida's coast. The men were charged in connection with that incident.
Watch the Snapchat video below:
Cox Media Group
