The pit bull thrown from I-310 into the swamp beneath in early October has found a new home, and her story a happy ending.
“Ally Gator,” who survived a near 30-foot fall when the incident occurred, has been adopted by New Jersey’s Dina Alborano after a rigorous search, said St. Charles Parish animal control supervisor Angie Robert.
“This story, Ally, was all over the country,” Robert said. “(Alborano) contacted us and submitted an application. Hers was pristine. We couldn’t have found a better home for her.”
Robert said Alborano took a major interest in the abandoned dog.
“She kept up with her, really kept up with her,” Robert said. “A lot of people have an impulse to adopt, but then it becomes an afterthought. She checked every other day, ‘How is Ally doing today?’ We feel extremely good about her new home.”
Alborano said she knew off the bat she wanted to give Ally a home. The Allentown, New Jersey resident saw the video of Ally’s rescue on Twitter after a friend alerted her.
“(What happened to Ally) is just awful,” Alborano said. “My friend told me, ‘Hey, you need to look at this video. Oh my God.’ You wonder sometimes what goes through people’s minds. The story was just horrific.
“I looked at this dog and just fell in love immediately.”
In early October, the pit bull was tossed more than 30 feet over a guardrail from I-310 and left to drown in the swamp below.
An investigation is ongoing to find the perpetrator.
On arrival, officers observed the female pit bull alive on a small piece of land or marshy grass in the swamp below the interstate. They rescued the dog within 45 minutes, found with a skin infection and apparently bitten by an alligator.
“It’s in the top five cases I’ve worked and I’ve been in the rescue business 15 to 20 years now,” Robert said. “I didn’t believe the call when it came.”
Word of Ally’s mistreatment spread quickly, and help was on the way. The St. Charles Animal Shelter drew a number of requests for adoption and the Humane Society paid for the pit bull’s medical care, medicines, skin testing and vet expenses.
Ultimately, Alborano was chosen to give the dog a home. Her family cares for over 70 racehorses, and she said Ally’s age and breed was part of what inspired her to act.
“She’s an older dog,” Alborano said. “There’s a lot of interest in adopting a dog when they’re puppies, little with that cute face … but when they’re older, sometimes it can be tougher. Plus with Ally being a pit bull, it kind of has the same effect. I wanted to adopt her almost immediately. I thought she’d fit in with us.
“We have some crazy horses, stallions who are pretty wild. But they all deserve someone to care for them.”
The dog will eventually travel to New Jersey via a transport vehicle, but that has been a bit delayed as Ally — while having recovered very quickly from the night of the incident — is still being checked to determine her full health.
“She had improved so much we’d planned on sending her off on the 5th, but she had a bit of a setback,” Robert said. “She was 95 percent ready to go.”
Veterinarian Jena Troxler said some lesions were found on Ally’s tail, leading to some caution being taken.
“She had very irritated skin, so we put her on antibiotics,” Troxler said of when Ally was first taken in. “Her feet were swollen, her belly was extremely red … she responded well. All of that cleared. Then, about a month later, right about time she was supposed to go to home in New Jersey, we started finding circular hair loss lesions on tail.
“I cannot send a dog with something infectious, because people can get it, dogs, cats, and she’d be traveling with other animals. We want to make sure she’s healthy, as we would for any animal.”
Troxler said Ally’s tests came back negative for ringworm, and once the cause for the lesions is determined, it shouldn’t be long until Ally and Albarano are united.
“The pathologist found no bacteria … but he’s still (testing), so she’s still here,” Troxler said. “In Louisiana, we have some odd, weird fungi that can live in swampy water. No bacteria was found either, so that’s a good thing.
“Her home in New Jersey is amazing. They have acres of land. They have their own radio show regarding Thoroughbred horses. They’re so excited to have her … she’s just hit a little bit of a road block. She’s been here awhile, but her story will end up a good one.”
Alborano said she’s really excited to bring Ally into the fold.
“Oh, I really can’t wait,” she said. “We thought we were going to get her last week, but they want to make sure she’s 100 percent first. I’m really looking forward to the day she arrives.”
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