Man’s Best Friend…A 17ft Long 
Pet Crocodile

Chito made friends with the croc after finding him with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Central American state’s Parismina river 20 years ago. He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death. But Chito enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat. He says: “When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house. ”He was very skinny, weighing only around 150 lb. I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover. ”I stayed by Pocho’s side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad. ”It meant a lot of sacrifice. I had to be there every day. I love all animals - especially ones that have suffered.” He says: “After a decade I started to work with him. At first it was slow, slow. I played with him a bit, slowly doing more. ”Then I found out that when I called his name he would come over to me.” At one point during his recovery, Chito left the croc in a lake near his house. But as he turned to walk away, to his amazement Pocho got out of the water and began to follow him home.