An alligator in Florida that ate a pit bull out on its morning walk will be euthanized, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission trappers that captured the animal.
Cynthia Robinson said she was walking her 6-year-old dog, named Tank, near a retention pond Thursday, Aug. 8 when the alligator snatched it and pulled it underwater.
“He came back up and I seen my white dog in his mouth,” Robinson told WFTX. “But he just like sat there with my dog in his mouth.”
Robinson said there was nothing she could do but watch her pet go under.
“He looked at me like, ‘Momma, help me,’ and I couldn’t do nothing. I could not do nothing,” she told WTSP. “He made my dog look like a chihuahua.”
Trappers were able to catch what they think was the same alligator by using distress noises to lure it in close enough to noose it. They then dragged the approximately 400-pound beast onto land and restrained it before taking it away.
The trappers say this alligator is more than 11 feet long. It took them about a half hour to get it out of the retention pond. They say now that they have it, the alligator will be euthanized. pic.twitter.com/jJo95UgM8f
— Liz Burch WTSP (@LizBurchWTSP) August 9, 2019
Looks like they got the alligator @10NewsWTSP pic.twitter.com/wgHCIB5nJE
— Liz Burch WTSP (@LizBurchWTSP) August 9, 2019
The pond was closed off after the attack until it was safe.
Robinson said in an interview with WTSP she was relieved the alligator has been caught. She was able to thank the trappers for giving her closure.
“He’s a monster,” she said of the 11-foot-long alligator.
Reactions Online
On social media, people were sympathetic for Robinson’s loss, but many also expressed they believe the gator was in the right
One person on Facebook wrote, “Sorry for your loss! But not the alligators fault! He was in his territory!”
Another wrote, “I am outraged that they are euthanizing this alligator! It’s sad that the gator ate her best friend. However, the gator was doing his natural thing.”
Many people also noted the dangers of walking dogs near the water edge in Florida.
One person wrote on Facebook: “As unfortunate as it is people need to be more aware of their environment, me personally I wouldn’t be taking my dog for a casual walk near a pond in Florida knowing the dangers.”
“I’m sorry that you lost your dog, I truly am,” another Facebook user wrote. “However, do NOT call this beautiful animal a monster. That animal was just doing what millions of years of evolution programmed it to, take any opportunity for prey. You wouldn’t have called your dog a monster for killing a rabbit or a squirrel.”
Nuisance Gators
The state record for longest alligator recorded in Florida measured 14 feet and 3.5 inches, and the heaviest was 1,043 pounds at 13 feet and 10.5 inches, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The commission has a toll-free “Nuisance Alligator Hotline” 866-FWC-GATOR that will dispatch a contracted trapper to the scene to control the situation.
According to the agency, alligators are opportunistic feeders. The website advises people to “keep pets on a leash and away from the water.”
