NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. — An elderly Florida woman fought off an alligator after it attacked her while she was walking her dog near a pond.
Neighbor Patty Cuppy told deputies she heard screaming and ran out to help in the North Fort Myers neighborhood on Thursday night, according to body camera footage from the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
"When I got here, the dog was covered in blood. Her leg was completely exposed from her knee down to her ankle," Cuppy told Fort Myers CBS-affiliate WINK.
The elderly woman was identified as Del Boppel by NBC2, who spoke with her at the hospital. She said the gator lunged after her when she was close to the pond. She threw her dog, named Queen, up in the air, but the gator bit her leg and fingers before she hit it in the snout, according to NBC2.
“It was like a torpedo. I have never seen anything move that fast in all my life. I didn’t have time to think,” she said.
Mark Burlingham, who also ran to help, said she saved the dog from the gator.
"She was laying on the ground with her dog and said that the alligator came up to get the dog, and she pulled the dog out of the way and the gator got her leg and arm and hand,” he told WINK.
The gator measured 7 feet, 3 inches long and was later found and "humanely euthanized," according to a statement from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to NBC.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says Floridians should follow these steps when they are near an alligator:
- Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator. If someone is concerned about an alligator, they should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and we will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to resolve the situation.
- Keep pets on a leash and away from the water’s edge. Pets often resemble alligators’ natural prey.
- Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn.
- Never feed an alligator. It’s illegal and dangerous. When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with the availability of food. This can lead to an alligator becoming a nuisance and needing to be removed from the wild.
For more information on Alligators from FWC, click here.