Neuty, the pet nutria, to be seized from Bucktown couple by Wildlife and Fisheries agents

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents plan to confiscate a Bucktown couple’s pet nutria because it’s illegal to possess one, the owners said Thursday.

Two years ago, Neuty was a wild infant that lived in the West Esplanade Avenue canal. When the palm-sized animal was injured while crossing the road, Bucktown residents Denny and Myra Lacoste rescued the motherless critter and nursed it to health.

Over time, Neuty, part of an invasive species that exacerbates Louisiana wetlands erosion, became a family pet. Neuty swims in the Lacostes’ pool, rides in the family car with its head out the window like a beagle, sleeps in a bathroom in their home and accompanies Denny Lacoste to the seafood shop that he owns near Clearview Parkway.

On Wednesday, feature stories in The Times-Picayune and on WWL-TV reported on the Lacostes’ relationship with the rodent, which now weighs 22 pounds.

The Lacostes said Wildlife and Fisheries agents arrived at the seafood store Thursday at about 4 p.m., but the couple’s son had taken the orange-toothed rat for a ride. Dennis Lacoste said he was given a ticket for “possession of a wild quadruped without a license,” and instructed to turn over the animal as soon as possible.

Which he planned to do.

He said he was unaware keeping a nutria as a pet is illegal. He said that when he first took the wounded creature home, he contacted Wildlife and Fisheries and was told that keeping a nutria was not advisable but not illegal.

The Wildlife and Fisheries Department said the nutria would be sent to the Baton Rouge Zoo, to be part of an educational exhibit.

“In most cases, the animal would have been placed back into the wild,” the agency said in a statement. “However, LDWF biologists and zoo officials said that since the animal has been habituated to humans, it would not be able to survive in the wild.

“It is well known in Louisiana that nutria causes extensive damage to wetlands, agricultural crops and structural foundations, including roads and dikes. They may also threaten human health and safety and serve as a reservoir for several diseases. 

“It is against the law in Louisiana to possess injured or orphaned mammals without an LDWF rehabilitation permit, even if there is a plan to release them. It is illegal to possess wildlife as a pet or for the pet trade. There is no permit for this activity, and no permit will be issued for it.”

‘Social animals’

Said the Baton Rouge Zoo, in a statement relayed by Wildlife and Fisheries: “The zoo has another male nutria that’s already a part of the ambassador animal program, so the two will eventually be acclimated and brought together. As social animals, the nutria should be comfortably at ease and enjoy this exposure to another animal of the same species.”

At 5:30 p.m., two armed Wildlife and Fisheries officers, dressed in military-style fatigues arrived at the Lacoste home. But after 45 minutes, Neuty had not arrived.

Myra Lacoste’s voice quivered slightly as she expressed fear for a domesticated Neuty going to the zoo. Leaning against the couple’s pickup truck in the driveway, she asserted again and again that they thought they had been in compliance with Jefferson Parish rules, and would not have engaged in illegal activity.

As the sun set, the two agents told the Lacostes they were planning to leave, but that they expected to be called promptly when the couple’s son returned with the animal.

“We’re giving you ample opportunities to produce the nutria,” one of the agents said. “We feel like we’ve been entirely respectful this entire process. But we’re not going away, all right?”

“Prolonging the process,” the officer said, could provoke further legal action.

NOTE: Earlier versions of this article, based on a statement from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said the agency seized Neuty on Thursday. The agency later altered its statement to say the critter “is set to be removed.”