We’d all go the extra mile for our pets, but you probably wouldn’t expect to save them from an alligator – it’s not something that happens every day.
That’s what Kim Spencer from Florida had to do, however. Fortunately, her dog, Kona, is healing and back to enjoying plenty of attention in peace.
On April 1, Spencer, an elementary school teacher, was walking with nine-year-old Kona when she noticed an alligator turning toward her and Kona, and Kim urged her to walk away. However, Kona stayed where she was, and in seconds the reptile launched forward at the dog, trapping her between its teeth.
"She’s facing it, it’s facing her, and it jumped out and got her. Her whole head was inside its mouth," Spencer said of the ordeal. "I stopped thinking and just dove on it, jumped on it, and straddled it, as lady-like as that is, and was trying to pry its jaws open."
Spencer, who’s afraid of alligators, was able to face her fears, wrestle the creature, and pry its mouth open to save her Labrador mix. The alligator then headed away, back to the water, giving the pair the chance to get help.
They both needed medical attention, including stitches, with both of Kim’s hands getting injured and Kona needing a cone collar, and Kim said that she’d fight an alligator again if she needed to. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let her be taken away,” she told WFLA News.
With alligators being quite common in Florida, Kim is trying to raise awareness. She said, “It could easily happen, and you might not be that lucky to get your child or your pet. Many people say they are more afraid of us than we are of them – clearly not the case."
Going forward, Kim is planning to walk Kona in the gated part of her community, ignoring areas where alligators are likely to hide.
There are thought to be around 1.3 million alligators in Florida, so the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has some advice on how to live alongside them. It advises that, while it’s rare for alligators to cause serious injury in the state, residents should never feed them, keep their distance if they see one, keep pets on leashes and away from the water, and swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours.
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