Woman Pries 6-Foot Alligator’s Jaws Open to Save Her Rescue Dog from Deadly Attack

A woman who fought off a 6-foot-6 alligator when it attacked her dog while she was on an evening stroll is speaking out.

On Tuesday, April 1, Kim Spencer was walking with her nine-year-old rescue dog, Kona, when an alligator emerged from a nearby lake. Before she could rush away, the reptile took one bite that placed the canine’s entire head in its jaws, local news outlets 7 News Miami and Fox 13 reported.

"She’s facing it, it's facing her, and it jumped out and got her,” Spencer said, according to the outlets. “She was in up to here; her whole head was inside its mouth.”

“I stopped thinking and just dove on it, jumped on it and straddled it, as lady-like as that is, and was trying to pry its jaws open,” she continued.

Related: Alligator Caught on Camera Making ‘Himself at Home’ at Florida Residence: See the Video

The married dog owner - who is an elementary school teacher - said she isn’t a nature lover as she’s “always afraid of gators, snakes, you name it” per Bay News 9.

However, she was able to ignore her fears to pounce on the alligator from behind to save her beloved labrador-mix.

Spencer recalled hearing a noise and seeing the alligator's eyes in the water around 10 feet away from the bank just moments before the attack, WFLA News reported.

She described the reptile as having Kona’s “whole front portion” in its mouth within seconds.

"Its back was to me, so it made me just jump on,” Spencer said, per Fox 13. “We just got lucky because just as quickly as it ran after us, it ran back into the water, and we were out of there."

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Having saved the pooch, Spencer ended up with stitches, and Kona suffered deep bite wounds, according to the outlet.

“I would do it all over again. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let her be taken away,” Spencer told WFLA News.

Related: Brutal Brawl Between Alligator and Crocodile Caught on Video at Florida's Everglades National Park

She has vowed to do future walks in the gated part of her Hillsborough County community and urges other people to avoid areas where alligators may be lurking, per Bay News 9.

“They need to know to stay away. Don’t go near them, don’t feed them,” Spencer told the outlet.

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