TAMPA, Fla. — Some pet parents will do anything to protect their animal.

Kimberly Spencer wrestled an alligator to free her dog, Kona, from the mouth of a predator.

What You Need To Know

  • A Tampa teacher wrestled an alligator to save her dog, Kona, during their regular walk

  • Both are recovering, with the dog receiving stitches for injuries

  • The Florida Wildlife Commission contracted a nuisance trapper to remove the 6-foot alligator from the neighborhood

The Spencers rescued the labrador-mix about eight years ago, but this daring dog mom took pet rescue to a whole new level.

“I hope she understands that she’ll be okay and that we hate that she’s in pain,” said Spencer. “I would never let anything happen to her.”

Kimberly held true to that to that word Tuesday.

“I’m always afraid of gators, snakes, you name it. I’m not a nature girl,” said Kimberly, who is an elementary school teacher.

Those fears subsided when she and Kona encountered an alligator on their regular walk in the Westwood Lakes neighborhood.

“We went down. I didn’t see anything to be worried about,” said Kimberly of an area they walked with Kona on a leash near a neighborhood pond. “All of a sudden, I heard a noise and ten feet in, you could see. I saw its eyes, and I saw it turn.”

Kimberly says the gator came at them quickly.

“It had its mouth open ... it clamped down on her and it got her ... so I jumped on its back and pried its jaws open,” described Kimberly of the alligator, having Kona’s head and upper body in its grip. “Once I got it, her out, I clamped its mouth shut and was holding onto its jaws, its mouth shut.”

Kimberly says the dog was freed from the gator’s hold and the reptile thankfully went back into the water.

“I wasn’t letting it take my baby, that’s it,” said Kimberly. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her on my time.”

Kimberly was treated for bites to both hands. Kona is home from the vet with stitches; her injuries were mostly around the shoulder area.

An image showing Kona the dog's shoulder abrasions and stitches as well as Kimberly Spencer's hand injuries from the alligator.

(Courtesy: Kimberly Spencer)

As they heal, Kimberly wants to warn others in the area about the gators.

“They need to know to stay away. Don’t go near them, don’t feed them,” said Kimberly.

She adds that she will take future walks in the gated part of her Hillsborough County community.

The FWC confirms the gator was 6 feet 6 inches, and the agency contracted a nuisance alligator trapper to remove the animal from the area.

Wildlife experts stress if there is concern about an alligator, to keep a safe distance from it and to call FWC’s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

FWC also has the following safety advice for people to keep in mind, reminding the warmer months mean mating season for the gators:

  • Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator
  • Keep pets on a leash and away from the water’s edge (pets often resemble alligators’ natural prey)
  • Swim only in designated areas
  • Never feed an alligator