A South Florida woman has survived a harrowing New Year’s Eve attack by an alligator that fought her as she tried to save her pet dog from the rampaging reptile.
Gwen Cash was taking her Rottweiler, Maximus, for a walk near her Pembroke Pines home when the gator rapidly approached her pet, WSVN reported.
“Within five minutes, we weren’t here that long, and he was right there. I go, ‘Wow!’” Cash recounted to the news outlet.
“I scan the whole lake and that quick, he was right there,” she said. “He kind of turned like as if he was going for my dog’s throat. I tried putting my arm around my dog’s chest and that’s how I got scratched. I’m glad he didn’t close his mouth.”
Cash said she managed to pull her pooch away and take him back inside, but she was left with gaping wounds on her arm.
She said she has contacted a trapper to get the animal relocated from along Holly Lake.
“I think they’re beautiful. They’re in their natural habitat, You know? We came here, not the other way around,” Cash said.
But she added: “I don’t think they’re beautiful when they’re trying to eat my dog. … Hey, if not my dog, someone’s little kid could be playing.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advised people not to feed wildlife, especially alligators, because it allows them to get comfortable with their surroundings and with humans.