A woman risked an arm to save her puppy after an alligator tried dragging him into a watery grave in Land O’Lakes, Florida.
Danie Wright was in her backyard, walking her dog near a creek when the Sept. 3 incident happened, according to cable network Bay News 9 in Tampa, Florida.
Unbeknownst to Wright, a five-foot alligator was lurking in the water, which was covered in watermoss, according to WTSP-TV in Tampa.
“I heard a squeal, and I got pulled,” Wright told WTSP. “The alligator had him by his [collar] and dragged him, and I wasn’t gonna let go.”
The gator pulled Wright’s 4-month-old Shih Tzu, Dax, into the water.
Wright jumped in after him.
“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.
Option A, however, nearly cost her an arm.
Pawsitive news of the day
Cousin Dax is ok!
Good Hooman
Proper: “I just punched him, punched and punched. I punched him in the eye that he kind of let go… but his teeth dragged down my arm”
Florida woman fights off 5-foot alligator with bare hands to save 4-month-old puppy pic.twitter.com/03KQ7MxOBS
— Not a Pinko (@dogscantwhistle) September 14, 2025
“I just punched him, punched and punched,” she said about the gator. “I punched him in the eye enough that he kind of let go, he unclamped a little, and I pulled off, but his teeth dragged down my arm.”
In the 20 years that she’s lived at the property, she’d never seen an alligator in her backyard creek, she told Bay News 9.
“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 her puppy.
Video showed officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission capturing the gator.
“Just be careful with your dogs. You know, these alligators are no joke,” Wright said. “I mean, 15 feet, he came out to get him, and I didn’t see him.”
In a safety bulletin, the FWC also warned Floridians to keep their dogs a safe distance from creeks and other bodies of water.
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