A large alligator grabbed his 100-pound dog at a boat launch and ate it, an Alabama man told a local television station.
Chris Wilson told
WPMI-TV in Mobile that his brother took his dog named Mavis to the boat launch at Arlington Park where a large alligator suddenly leaped from the water and grabbed the dog.
Wilson's neighbor said Mavis was like the neighborhood dog.
"Mavis was a lot like my dog," Nicole Lavirriere told WPMI-TV. "I think she was like the Norm of 'Cheers.' She was Mavis. Everybody knew her name. She had regular houses that she went to get treats from. She knew how to pretty much open up our back door and come in like she wanted to."
News of the alleged doggie ambush by the gator left some park visitors frightened.
"We come about four or five times a week," Jayme Corry told the television station. "We fish mainly for bass and flounder. It definitely makes me scared."
The Sun-Sentinel reported earlier this month that a dog was killed by an alligator in Lake Ida, near Boynton Beach. The family told the newspaper that the dog as attacked while it was playing in the water.
The family's veterinarian told the Sentinel some of the dog's organs were likely crushed in the attack and it could not be saved even after surgery.
"Do not allow dogs to swim or explore waters that are known to have alligators because dogs look like prey to alligators," says the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
website. "There are far more alligator attacks on dogs than on humans."
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