A Florida woman escaped death but still could lose her leg after she tried to protect her puppy from a massive alligator Tuesday evening.
The 43-year-old told police that she was walking her dog around a lake when the seven-foot gator appeared.
“I was walking my dog and all of a sudden I looked back and I see this lady kinda falling by the lake a little bit and apparently she was walking her dog close to the edge of the lake,” witness Gene Vance said.
“It looked like the gator tried to get the dog but she grabbed the dog really quick, but in turn, she slipped down and the gator got her leg just underneath the knee…it was like one chomp and then he went back into the water.”
“I’ve seen that same gator just kinda sitting out on the grass. It’s a pretty big gator. Matter of fact, I’ve seen him walking a couple of times so I always try to avoid being in that area, any place close to the water, because it happens.”
The animal was tracked down following the incident and removed from the lake.
Resident Gregg Brotman said that when officers came to capture the huge reptile, it came straight toward them, suggesting it had been fed by people.
“When I rolled up here and I walked up here that alligator went right towards all of the police officers so it’s really obvious somebody was feeding that alligator and that’s not cool and that’s why the lady got bit today.”
