Pasco County woman fights off gator to save puppy

LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — A Pasco County woman and her dog are both OK after an alligator attacked them while on a walk.

“He really dug in right here, but it was another, the other side of his mouth that dug in here that’s a lot deeper,” Danie Wright said, referring to scratches visible under and just outside a bandage on her left arm during the Sept. 3 attack.

Wright’s wounds may be healing, but the memory of what happened to her and her 4-month-old puppy, Dex, is still fresh.

“I heard a squeal you never, ever want to hear, and I looked and the alligator was pulling him into the water,” said Wright.

Wright said she was walking Dex on his leash near a creek behind her home when the gator came out of the water and grabbed him while she was not looking. She told Spectrum News there was only one thing to do: jump into the water after them.

“Option B was I was just going to kind of step back because I don’t want to fight an alligator, and then not only have to watch my dog get murdered, but hear it,” she said.

Wright said that was never an option. In the water, she grabbed Dex by the collar.

“The alligator had him by the front teeth, wasn’t like it was back far,” Wright said. “I took him, and I tossed him up onto the bank. By then, my arm was in the alligator’s mouth.”

So, the Massachusetts native fought off the Florida predator the only way she could.

“My dad was a Brockton cop. There’s two famous people from Brockton: Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, two boxers. So, they always say, you know, ‘Brockton tough.’ But my dad always said, ‘You know, if anyone ever gets you, fight for your life,’” said Wright. “I literally just started punching and kicking and elbowing.”

Wright said she was able to flip the 5-foot-long gator on its back and thinks it was a punch near his eye that got him to loosen his grip and let her get away.

“So, then, I literally just come walking out of here looking like Swamp Thing and Carrie from the movie,” she said.

She provided Spectrum News with video of a trapper catching and hauling the gator off, with Dex barking after it. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt at all.

“This AirTag saved his life because the alligator got his teeth under it,” Wright said, referring to a small disk on his collar. “If he had gone a centimeter more, he would have punctured his throat.”

While Wright said she’s never seen a gator in the creek in the 20 years she’s owned the property, she said a 13-foot gator was recently trapped nearby. She said she knows things could have gone differently.

“Just this five-foot gator, how strong his, I mean, I could not get my arm out of his mouth. He was so strong. But I am so, so thankful, I’m thankful that this guy is fine,” she said about Dex.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office confirmed deputies assisted with an animal complaint involving an alligator on Wright’s street on Sept. 3 and referred Spectrum News to FWC for details.

FWC did not respond to a request for more information.

Wright is urging dog owners to stay away from bodies of water while on walks and to always be vigilant.

“If you’re looking at something or listening to something, you’re not watching your dog,” Wright said. “This guy came out of nowhere. Never saw him. So, you have to have your eyes on your dog the entire time you walk.”