Joseph Wilkinson
New York Daily News
There was nothing metaphorical about these jaws of death.
A Florida man saved his 3-month-old puppy’s life when he freed the dog from the jaws of an alligator, Fort Myers CBS affiliate WINK reported.
Richard Wilbanks, 74, spotted his pup Gunner in the dangerous water of his backyard pond in the Fort Myers suburb of Estero and leapt into action.
Gunner, a Cavalier King Charles, suffered a single puncture would and was cleared by a vet, according to CNN.
Wilbanks told WINK his hands were “chewed up” after he fought to open the gator’s mouth. He was shook by how the gator came out of the water “like a missile” to snatch Gunner.
Wilbanks got a tetanus shot after the incident, he told CNN.
He didn’t call the Florida Wildlife Commission on the gator, WINK reported, instead saying that he understood it was just trying to survive and that Gunner should not have been walking so close to the pond. He keeps Gunner on a leash now.
After all, it’s supposed to be a dog-eat-dog world, not a gator-eat-dog world.
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