Mike McCoy from Holiday, Florida saw his 8-month-old Labrador retriever Jake pulled under water by an alligator while they were on a walk.
“He was in the death roll with that old gator,” says McCoy of the frightening incident.
In order to save his puppy Jake, McCoy jumped into the water and fought the alligator with his bare hands.
“I got around, thumbed him the eye, picked him out of the water so he couldn’t get anywhere until he let the dog go,” he said. “And in the interim, he decided, I don’t have him, I’ll bite you.”
The alligator was between seven and nine feet long, and both McCoy and Jake needed stitches after the incident. Both the man and his pup were relatively unharmed and are currently back to their daily walks.
“He’s on the mend,” McCoy says of Jake. “He’s full of spit and vinegar.”
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