Florida is well known for its huge alligator population, so it’s not surprising that most people will cross paths with one at some point. Richard Wellington, 74 from Florida, realised his worse nightmare one day when his 3 month old puppy strayed too far on their daily walk. Not only did he cross an Aligators path, but the Alligator gripped his fur baby, dragging her into the water.

Richard being the hero that he is ran straight into the water after little Lola though, he said “There’s no way I was just going to stand there and watch her be eaten, I had to do something”.

The poor pup was yelping loudly when he managed to lift her above water, but his persistence eventually paid off. He managed to save his puppy by prying open the Alligators mouth with his hands, taking a bite himself in the process. The most amazing part of this story though, is that the little puppy got away with just a couple of small cuts and neither Richard or the Alligator were hurt in the process either.

“At my age (74), my wife weren’t happy when I got home and told her the story, I don’t think she believed me (laughing)” Richard said. “My grandson was walking just behind us and luckily he managed to catch the whole thing on video. Im glad nobody got hurt, it’s a cool story that I’ve told everybody”.

We hear you Richard! What a brave man, the Alligator was only a juvenile itself, however they do have some of the most powerful jaws on the planet so he’s a brave man to jump straight in after his beloved puppy. What’s better is he managed to somehow do it gently without hurting the Gator, it’s the happy ending that this story needed!