Kim Spencer was walking her 9-year-old rescue dog, Kona, near a lake in Tampa. Suddenly, a 6 1/2 foot alligator lunged out from underneath the water and grabbed Kona, clamping its mouth around the dog’s head and shoulder.
Kim tells Fox 13 that she didn’t hesitate. She ran straight toward the gator, jumped on it, and used all her strength to pry its mouth open. She managed to free Kona, and both of them survived the terrifying attack. Adult alligators have a jaw strength of about 2000 pounds per square inch compared to a human at 120 or a lion at 600.
Wildlife experts assume the gator let the dog go because he wasn't hungry enough to put up with this 140 pound woman on top of him. But if he was really hungry would not have only eaten the dog but probably done a lot of damage to Kim even though she would be too big for him to try and eat.
Both Kim & Kona needed stitches but are both expected to be okay. Kim says she doesn’t consider herself brave, just a dog mom who did what she had to do. She’s warning other pet owners in Florida to be extra careful near lakes, because gators can appear out of nowhere.