A Florida couple was taking nice stroll with their dog through Riverside Park in Oviedo last Friday when a 12-foot, 6-inch alligator lurched up from the Little Econ River and snatch the pup. The boyfriend then reportedly jumped on the gator’s back and wrestled to pooch out of the reptile’s massive, toothy jaws. (No commitment issues there.) The dog, whose breed hasn’t been reported, sustained serious injuries and is still being treated at a local clinic.
The size of the gator isn’t a guess because the Florida Wildlife Commission issued a permit for the beast to be removed, and trappers did just that on Sunday. Fox35 Orlando spoke with alligator trapper Jerry Flynn, whose nephew Bill Gerard dispatched the massive gator. “We knew that he was a dangerous alligator, a very large alligator,” Lynn told Fox35, adding that the beast could have easily taken down a human.
According the Lynn and other experts, a combination of mating season, the onset on nesting season (during which gators can get very protective), warmer weather, and rising gator metabolisms make this a particularly bad time to walk your dog along the edge of any water body—even if your significant other is willing to wrestle the beast.
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