Kiski Township man shocked to find wayward alligator on his porch, 9 taken from neighbor's property

When Tony Gularsky opened the door to his front porch, he had “a rude awakening”: An alligator was blocking his doorway.

Gularsky, 60, of Kiski Township, had just gotten out of the hospital on Thursday, and he was expecting some friends were coming to visit him to see how he was doing.

Gularsky’s neighbor noticed the alligator and called Gularsky’s friends, who were en route so they could warn him.

“(They) called me and said, ‘Whatever you do Tony, don’t come out on your porch — there’s a big gator,” Gularsky said.

He was sitting inside his house when he received the call from his friends. In disbelief, Gularsky wanted to see for himself, so he went to open his front door.

“It was, I’d say, about 5 to 6 feet long,” Gularsky said.

Jason Pisarcik was one of Gularsky’s friends approaching the house.

“It was stretched out in front of his doorway,” said Pisarcik, 45, of Apollo. “He couldn’t get out (of his house) if he wanted to.”

By the time Pisarcik had pulled up, police were standing at the corner of Gularsky’s house “guarding” the gator until backup arrived. One of Gularsky’s neighbors had alerted them, too.

When Gularsky saw the gator, he said he “kind of expected” something like that to happen, as he and those who live near him have been aware of alligators living farther down Brownstown Road.

“It was just a matter of time before they (got) loose,” Gularsky said. “I ended up being the unfortunate one — it had to be on my porch.”

Dominic Hayward, who has kept about 10 alligators as pets at his house down the road, was arrested by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission last month. According to court documents filed Sept. 27, he’s awaiting summary trial in connection with violating regulations regarding the transport of certain animals.

Hayward has owned 11 alligators, and his largest, Thor, is a 7-footer that lives in one of the bedrooms in his home.

Over the past few months, there have been multiple alligator sightings along the Kiski River — starting with “Chomper,” who was found after a weeklong search and will serve as an animal ambassador, and then Neo, who was a runaway baby male alligator.

Neo was later sighted in the Kiski River about a mile north of where Chomper was rescued.

Austin Randall, 23, of Lyndora, Butler County, lost Neo on Aug. 29 while attempting to give the baby male alligator a temporary home at Hayward’s. Chomper’s owner was never determined.

After the multiple reported alligator sightings, Kiski Township officials attempted to pass an ordinance to clamp down on alligator ownership in the township. However, there was great outcry of public criticism against it.

In Pennsylvania, it’s legal to own non-native species of amphibians and reptiles as long as they are not released, according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Additionally, no state permit is required to keep such animals, and state law doesn’t regulate reptiles. It’s up to the municipality to ban, limit or require permits, said state Rep. Abby Major, R-Ford City, in a previous Tribune-Review interview.

Both Gularsky and Pisarcik said police went to Hayward’s property to remove the alligators outside of his residence.

Armstrong County humane officers arrived at the scene to retrieve the alligator from Gularsky’s porch, and they ended up “rescuing” nine gators from Hayward’s home due to an “emergency situation,” according to Tribune-Review news partner WTAE.

The gators were in a backyard pool, and because of dropping temperatures, they had to be removed, according to WTAE’s account.

Kiski Township Police Chief Lee Bartolicius was unable to confirm any details Thursday night.

“We’re still in the middle of this,” Bartolicius said from the scene. He said more information will be available Friday morning.

Attempts to contact Hayward on Thursday night were unsuccessful.

If the alligators are being permanently removed, Pisarcik said he would be “kind of happy.”

“It’ll be a lot safer around here,” Pisarcik said. “You never know when they’re going to come loose.”

Gularsky said his close encounter with the alligator on his porch could’ve been worse.

“I could’ve stepped out and never knew it was there.”