Kim Spencer had spent her whole life afraid of alligators. Then one grabbed her dog, and fear simply lost.
On the evening of April 1, Spencer was out on a walk with Kona, her 9 year old rescue Labrador mix, near a lake in Tampa, Florida, when a roughly 6 foot alligator suddenly emerged from the water.
Within seconds, it lunged, closing its jaws around Kona’s entire head. “She’s facing it, it’s facing her, and it jumped out and got her,” Spencer said. “Her whole head was inside its mouth.”
Spencer didn’t have time to think.
She reacted purely on instinct.
“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,” she said.
An elementary school teacher by profession, Spencer admits she’s never been comfortable around wildlife, saying she’s “always afraid of gators, snakes, you name it.”
None of that mattered in the moment Kona needed her.
With the alligator’s back turned to her, Spencer managed to climb onto it and pry its jaws apart, freeing Kona from its grip.
Just as quickly as the attack began, the alligator retreated back into the water, giving Spencer the chance to get herself and Kona to safety.
“We just got lucky because just as quickly as it ran after us, it ran back into the water, and we were out of there,” she said.
Both survived, though not unscathed. Spencer required stitches for her own injuries, while Kona suffered deep bite wounds and needed veterinary care afterward.
Looking back, Spencer said she wouldn’t hesitate to do it all again. “I would do it all over again. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let her be taken away,” she told WFLA News.
Since the attack, Spencer has committed to walking Kona only in the gated areas of her Hillsborough County community, and she’s urging other pet owners to take alligator safety seriously near lakes, ponds, and canals.
“They need to know to stay away. Don’t go near them, don’t feed them,” she said.
When a rescue dog she loved was in danger, Kim Spencer proved that even our deepest fears can disappear the moment someone we love needs us most.
Would you have the courage to do the same for your pet?
Source:
people – “Woman Pries 6-Foot Alligator’s Jaws Open to Save Her Rescue Dog from Deadly Attack”