A 10-foot alligator killed an 85-year-old woman who was walking her dog near a retention pond in a Florida community for people older than 55 on Monday.
The alligator attacked Gloria Serge’s Shih Tzu as they walked along the water in the Spanish Lakes Fairways community in Fort Pierce, in the southeast part of the state, according to multiple media reports.
The reptile then went after Serge as she attempted to save her pet and dragged her into the water.
Witnesses dialed 911.
The dog survived the attack and the alligator was captured, per the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Last year, a woman was fatally attacked by two alligators in Englewood, southwest Florida, and another woman died in similar circumstances in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Fatal alligator attacks are rare, however.
“The likelihood of a Florida resident being seriously injured during an unprovoked alligator incident in Florida is roughly only one in 3.1 million,” the state commission said on its website.
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