Posted on 11/05/2010 8:29:02 AM PDT by JoeProBono
TAMPA, Fla. -- A Florida man shot at an alligator to free his dog from its jaws.
Tom Martino says he and his Jack Russell terrier Lizabeth were walking along the Hillsborough River in Tampa on Thursday when the alligator wrestled the 15-pound dog into the water.
Martino started shooting into the water around the alligator to scare it into releasing the 9-year-old dog. He performed CPR on the dog until it coughed up water and started breathing again.
Lizabeth is now being treated for alligator bits and lung injuries from being underwater.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper captured the 5- to 6-foot alligator Thursday night.
Martino has a concealed weapons permit.
Lizabeth, a 9 year-old Jack Russell terrier, is in critical but stable condition
Hillsborough river is full of gators..I kayak there often, and they’re all over the place..Silly to walk a small dog, or a small child... close to the river...
Yay Tom Martino!
Alligator Bites
I would have killed that lizard
Resting on the Hillsborough River
In my mind they are a major nuisance just like wolves up in Montana and should be extincted; the difference being gators are semi-edible. Don't they taste kinda like catfish, meaning don't they taste kinda like dirt?
Gator tasted like chicken to me. Not 'fishy' at all. It was pretty good, IMHO.
I think kayaking there is pretty darn sil - oh nevermind.
They taste like whatever fried meat tastes like.
I would still shoot the gator, skin him and grill him.
It’s against the law to shoot alligators most of the year. Our problem is northerners feeding them ... takes away their fear and makes them more likely to attack. That said, it’s never a good idea to walk a dog or small child near gator infested waters ... too tempting.
In the kitchen making gumbo with gator meat
My mom & a tenant with gator caught in our lake. It had killed the fellow's puppy. We gave it to a F&W guy.
Is that anything like Crocodile Tears?
I always thought it tasted kinda like swamp chicken...
Thanks to the environmental whack-job left, Floridians are up to their rear ends in friggin’ alligators. Good for this fella and here’s hoping his pup gets better.
“Hillsborough river is full of gators..I kayak there often, and theyre all over the place..Silly to walk a small dog, or a small child... close to the river...”
Silly to walk near the river, but it makes sense to kayak IN the river??
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