20 Piranhas, 1 Alligator Taken From Spokane Apartment In Search - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

20 Piranhas, 1 Alligator Taken From Spokane Apartment In Search Warrant

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by Kelsey Watts, KHQ Local News Anchor/Reporter - bio | email

SPOKANE, Wash – An unusual search warrant has been served, resulting in 20 Red-Bellied Piranhas and 1 American Alligator being taken from a Spokane apartment on W. 6th Ave.

The man with the animals, Christopher R. Harper, is suspected of illegally selling piranhas on Craigslist.  It's not clear how he got the animals, or how many he'd potentially sold online.  The search warrant, served by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife along with Spokane Police, was executed Friday.  No people or animals were hurt in the process.

It is illegal to posses either exotic animal, and while no charges have yet been filed, two are pending; one for unlawfully possessing a prohibited aquatic animal species (the piranhas) and the other, for unlawfully possessing a potentially dangerous animal (the alligator).

The piranhas were taken into the care of Fish and Wildlife, while the small alligator was taken to SpokAnimal.