Last September, one of Tommy Lee and Brittany Furlan’s little Dachshunds, Neena, was snatched by a coyote in their Los Angeles, CA backyard. But Brittany went into mama bear mode and saved her fur baby, thank dog. Once everyone was relatively recovered, Brittany made sure to spread the word about their ordeal as a reminder to other pet parents to be vigilant in protecting their pooches. Well, now a Florida mama, Kim Spencer, is getting out her own PSA after an incident with her dog Kona. Only this is the Florida version, so instead of having to rescue Kona from a coyote, Kim had to wrestle an alligator. Yikes! But a mother’s love is fierce, so Kim proved victorious over the reptile, and she and Kona are recovering from their injuries with bandages and a cone, respectively. Here’s how Kim described the frightening encounter:
When her dog Kona was in peril, Kim Spencer reached inside an alligator’s jaws to pull her from the predator’s grasp. Now, both Spencer and Kona are just a bit banged up, and Spencer is stressing the importance of alligator awareness and safety in Florida, Fox29 reported.
Spencer witnessed it all unfold in front of her. Noticing the alligator turning towards her and Kona, Spencer urged her dog to turn around and walk away, but “she’s a really strong dog” and stood her ground, Spencer shared. In seconds, the alligator — which was six and a half feet long — had launched itself forward and bit down, trapping Kona between its teeth.
“Her whole head was inside its mouth,” Spencer recalled. “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.”
Wresting the gator from her position on its back, Spencer was able to pry the reptile’s mouth open and save Kona. After winning the literal gator fight, Spencer watched as it scurried away, back into the water from where it came, and the pair were able to seek help.
Both Spencer and her dog needed stitches after the altercation — Kim sustained injuries to both hands, and Kona ended up in a cone collar, according to the report — but they’re thankful for the opportunity to heal together.
Alligators are quite common in Florida, but Spencer urges others not to get complacent.
“It could easily happen, and you might not be that lucky to get your child or your pet,” she said. “Many people say they are more afraid of us than we are of them — clearly not the case.”
“Her whole head was inside its mouth.” Holy crap!!! And The View’s Ana Navarro was upset about Floridian raccoons! I’m having difficulty visualizing the mechanics of Kona’s precarious position, but for the sake of my sanity (and sleep) I’m not gonna try any harder to get the details of the picture. Instead I want to say, you go, Kim! I truly do not know if I would have the bravery to straddle an alligator (ain’t that a sentence!). Thank goodness my nine-pound, fluffy, long-haired Chihuahua My Guy strikes fear into the hearts of predators (ie, fellow canines) with his warrior stance: up on hind legs while pawing at the air with his front feet in unison; it’s incredibly ferocious and not pathetic looking at all (especially when it elicits no reaction whatsoever from the creature My Guy has deemed a threat). Anyway, moral of the story is, let’s keep our pups safe!! Which might (or definitely will) take extra work if you reside in Florida.
