Categories: PETS

‘Her whole head was inside its mouth’: Tampa dog owner pries gator’s jaws open to save her pet – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports


TAMPA, FLA. (WSVN) – A dog owner in Tampa is speaking out and sharing her story after she wrangled a 6-foot alligator to save her pet’s life.

A Tuesday evening walk seemed like the perfect end to a beautiful day in Tampa for Kim Spencer and her 9-year-old rescue dog, Kona.

But the pleasant stroll by a lake quickly turned into every Floridian’s worst nightmare.

“I didn’t see anything at all at the time. Then, all of a sudden, I heard something,” said Spencer. “Suddenly, I saw the eyes. I saw it turning itself around, so I started pulling her right away, ‘Kona, lets go,’ but she’s a really strong dog.”

Within just a few seconds, Spencer said, an alligator lunged from the lake and toward Kona. With one chomp, the reptile had Kona’s entire head in its jaws.

“She’s facing it, it’s facing her, and it suddenly jumped out and got her, so she was in all the way up to here, her whole head inside its mouth,” she said.

Spencer said she immediately sprang into action.

“I guess that where I stopped thinking, and I just dove on it, jumped on it, straddled it, as ladylike as that is,” she said, “For real, for real, and was trying to pry its jaws open.”

It was Spencer against a 6-foot-6 gator, and she won, prying open its jaws from behind and freeing Kona.

“Its back was to me, so it made me just jump on and, I guess, ’cause the girls are work are asking me, like, ‘Which hand was which jaw?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know.'”

Now this relieved dog owner is counting her blessings.

“We just got lucky, because it ran. Just as quickly as it ran after us, it went right back in the water, and I got up, and we were out of there,” she said.

Both Spencer and Kona needed stitches. They are now healing — both physically and emotionally.

“We’re empty nesters, she’s my baby, so I wasn’t ready to take on that mindset, that she’s an animal versus a human,” said Spencer.

Their story is now a warning to others:

“It could easily happen, and you might not be that lucky to be able to get your child or your pet,” said Spencer. “Many people say they’re more afraid of us than we are of them. Clearly not the case.”

This is the time of year when alligators become more visible across the Sunshine State. Courtship among the reptiles typically starts in April.

Wildlife experts remind residents to never feed alligators, as in many cases, it encourages the reptiles to become comfortable enough to get close to humans.

Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Doggone Well Staff

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