Heroic city commissioner saved dog from alligator attack

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Commissioner saves dog from alligator
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A city commissioner in Lakeland, Florida, is being hailed a hero for saving his neighbor’s dog from an alligator attack. According to Sunday’s publication of the Tampa Bay Times, 69-year-old Lakeland city commissioner, Bill Read, spotted his neighbor’s dog, “Dixie,” swimming in Lake Parker with an alligator nearby, last Tuesday.

Read called to the dog in an effort to get her out of the water, but she didn’t listen…moments later, the gator clamped down on the Labrador retriever’s body and pulled her under. Read was desperate to get the gator to stop the deadly attack, so he grabbed a huge rock, and a brick, and took aim.

The rock his the gator in the side – buying the dog a few moments to try and get away. Still, the huge gator, approximately 10 feet in length, pursued. Read tried again – this time launching the brick and hitting the alligator in the head.

Finally, the alligator seemingly had enough and swam away – Dixie, bleeding, bolted out of the water and ran home. Despite some puncture wounds, she is expected to recover. Her hero has dubbed her the Luckiest Dog in Lakeland.

Great job commissioner!!

(Image via Pixabay)

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Fantastic heroism, but where was precious Dixie’s owner during all this, and why was she left unattended in an area where waterways are KNOWN to be gator habitats???

  2. Thank you Commissioner for saving Dixie. I’m sure Dixie’s owner is grateful as well. I hope in the future the owner will not allow Dixie outside of the home without supervision. Living in Florida, the owner should have known there are gators in the lake, and Dixie being a Lab. can’t resist the water on a hot day. Be a responsible owner and keep Dixie safe.

  3. I applaud Commissioner Read for his bravery – he saved Dixie from certain death – BUT where was this neighbor when Dixie was being devoured by an alligator? This is Florida where gators are prominent and all animals should be supervised – apparently this owner’s priorities were somewhere else and only due to Mr. Read’s compassion was Dixie saved.

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