Kim Spencer didn’t hesitate. As a 6-foot-6 alligator clamped down on her dog’s head, the Florida elementary school teacher leapt onto its back and pried open its powerful jaws with her bare hands.

She didn’t think. She just moved.

Kim Spencer’s dog was ambushed by a 6-foot alligator.

It happened during an ordinary evening walk on April 1 in the quiet neighborhood of Westwood Lakes, near Tampa. Spencer’s nine-year-old rescue dog, Kona, had only wandered a few feet from her side when the alligator surged from the water.

“I saw the eyes. I saw it turning itself around so I started pulling her right away, ‘Kona, let’s go,’ but she’s a really strong dog,” Spencer told Fox News. But it was too late. The gator lunged and caught Kona’s head in its jaws.

The gator clamped down on the dog’s head without warning.

“I jumped on it, straddled it”

Spencer didn’t scream or run. She charged. “I stopped thinking and just dove on it,” she said. “Jumped on it, straddled it, as ladylike as that is, and was trying to pry its jaws open,” she recounted to People.

The moment was chaotic. “She was in up to here; her whole head was inside its mouth,” Spencer explained. The gator had Kona’s entire head and right shoulder between its teeth, according to the New York Post.

The dog mom managed to straddle the reptile from behind — a risky but instinctive move that probably saved her dog’s life. The alligator suddenly released Kona and retreated into the lake.

“We just got lucky,” Spencer told FOX 13 Tampa Bay. “Just as quickly as it ran after us, it ran back into the water, and we were out of there.”

Spencer dove onto the gator’s back to save her pet.

Injured but Alive

oth Spencer and Kona were hurt. The dog suffered deep bite wounds to her head and neck. Spencer received stitches to her hands. Days later, Kona wore a plastic cone over her healing wounds, while Spencer had bandages covering her fingers.

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

Spencer said she doesn’t even like the outdoors. “I’m always afraid of gators, snakes, you name it,” she admitted in an interview with Bay News 9. That didn’t stop her from risking her life when it mattered most.

The attack happened during a walk near a Florida lake.

Wildlife Officials Weigh In

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates there are around 1.3 million alligators in the state, “of every size,” as New York Post reported. While fatal alligator attacks are rare, the agency logged 11 bites in 2024 and 23 in 2023, including one fatality.

Officials warn that feeding alligators is dangerous. It reduces their natural fear of humans. “They prefer to go after prey they can overpower easily,” according to the commission’s guidelines.

The agency advises residents to keep pets on leashes and away from bodies of water. Spencer now follows that advice. She’s vowed to stick to gated areas for future walks and hopes her story helps others stay safe.

“They need to know to stay away,” she told Bay News 9. “Don’t go near them, don’t feed them.”

Dog, Family — and Fighter

Kona has been with Spencer for eight years. She’s more than a pet. “We’re empty nesters,” Spencer told Fox News. “She’s my baby, so I wasn’t ready to take on that mindset that she’s an animal versus a human.”

In the heat of danger, that bond pushed Spencer past fear. Her instincts took over. And for Kona, that made all the difference.