Gator gobbles up 65-pound dog

Associated Press

BOSSIER CITY, La. – An 8-foot alligator crawled out of a pond and ate a 65-pound Labrador retriever after the dog splashed in the water while training with its owner.

Bill Jones told police he tried to grab the dog from the gator but was knocked down by the alligator’s tail on Thursday.

Such an attack is not uncommon in Louisiana, where alligators frequent every major lake, river system, bayou, creek and farm pond, said Steve Hebert, a wildlife division supervisor.

Jones had been throwing a dummy into the lake in this northwest Louisiana city so the dog could retrieve it. The dog’s splashing probably attracted the alligator, Hebert said.

“The gator was doing what comes natural to gators. He was feeding,” he said.

Jones’ cousin, Bossier City Council member David Jones, said the attack didn’t surprise him.

“We don’t live in Kansas,” David Jones said. “Just as people in Alaska have problems with moose, we have problems with gators. It’s one of those things where man butts up to a natural habitat.”

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