A Tampa woman and her dog had a terrifying encounter with an alligator, proving just how far a person will go for their best friend.
A Tampa woman and her dog had a terrifying encounter with an alligator, proving just how far a person will go for their best friend.
Kimberly Spencer and her rescued nine-year-old dog, Kona, were out for a walk when they unexpectedly came face-to-face with a gator. Within seconds, the alligator was out of the water and had Kona in its jaws.
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WATCH HERE“All of a sudden I heard something and I looked over and I saw like the eyes in the water and I saw it turn right away. It was coming at us. It was like ten feet in, but ten feet away from the bank,” Kimberly recalled in an interview with NBC6 affiliate WFLA.
Without hesitation, Kimberly jumped onto the alligator’s back in a desperate attempt to save her dog’s life.
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“I guess it turned its body like right away with her, her whole front portion, including under her arm, because her right arm was in its mouth. So, I jumped on its back and was trying to pry its jaws open,” Spencer told WFLA
Against the odds, Kimberly managed to free Kona from the gator’s grip. The pair made it home safely, though Kona suffered a deep bite wound. Thankfully, she’s expected to make a full recovery. Kimberly, on the other hand, needed stitches for her injuries but says she would do it all over again.
"I couldn’t live with myself if I let her be taken away," Kimberly told WFLA.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the alligator was about six feet long. A trapper later removed the gator from the area.
