kids’ gator pool parties are unsafe

MADEIRA BEACH, Florida – Invitations to the birthday pool party for 8-year-old Marshall Jones announced two special guests.
Friends and parents jumped into the water to photograph and swim with the pair, Cupcake and Burger, two gators from the Alligator Attraction in John’s Pass.
“Not a single kid freaked out,” said Chris Jones, Marshall’s dad. “Not one.”
But investigators at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission think “gator parties” are unsafe for kids and parents.
They have told Alligator Attraction, the Madeira Beach facility that houses 50 gators, a tortoise and koi fish, that alligators no longer will be allowed to swim freely in residential swimming pools. More