Mike Karris and his fiancée, Rae Wilkerson could not believe their eyes when they saw an 8-foot alligator emerge from a pond and snatch their beloved dachshund, Cody, at a boat ramp in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, according to the Daily Mail.
As soon as the reptile grabbed the couple's 11-year-old pet, they set aside all concerns for their own safety and dashed into the water in a desperate attempt to save their four-legged friend. However, their rescue attempt was unsuccessful as the alligator retreated into the pond on a crowded Saturday.
'I couldn't catch up to the gator. It was so fast,' Karris said. 'The whole thing, start to finish, didn't last 5 seconds and the dog wasn't on the ground for more than a minute.'
The couple was just preparing their boat for departure when they set the dog on the ground without a leash. According to Karris, the alligator emerged out of the water, crossed about 10 feet of grass and gravel and then made its way to the pavement where the boat was docked. The gator may be accustomed to humans given the brazen attack at the bustling ramp, according to USA Today.
"While it's up to us to be our first line of defense and watch out for our loved ones," said Karris, "I'm not sure having a gator that's aggressive and not scared of humans at a family-friendly park is a safe situation."
Refuge manager Terry Peacock said incidents involving the park's hundreds of alligators and humans are extremely rare. Any alligators that are aggressive and pose as a threat to humans have been removed safely from the refuge. While Peacock and the other park officials feel sympathy for the loss of the couple's pet, Peacock said he cannot punish the animal for following its instincts. "I can't punish an alligator for being an alligator," he said. "That's just an alligator being its normal self," according to The Inquisitr.
