Mike McCoy was taking his chocolate lab, Jake, for a stroll around a pond when the dog wandered a few feet away to a shrub. An alligator sprang out of the water and attacked the dog in a couple of seconds. In a phone interview with NBC News, McCoy described just seeing the gator come out of the pond but hearing Jake cry out as the gator dragged him back into the water.

“With that monster, he was on a death roll,” McCoy added.

Mike reported that with his dog defenseless in the water and under assault from the alligator, he dove into the pond right away to fight off the animal and save his dog.

He stated that he remembered certain alligator-related suggestions he had previously read and attempted to use that information. McCoy claimed he poked the alligator in the eye and tried to pull it out of the water so it couldn’t move until the dog was freed from its jaws, but as he attempted to battle the gator, he was bitten on both hands.

“I wouldn’t have been able to save Jake as quickly if I hadn’t remembered what I read about alligators,” McCoy added. “I only felt secure fighting the gator because I understood what I was doing.”

Fortunately, a teacher at a nearby school who was witnessing the action from a window was able to call the school nurse, who assisted in bandaging McCoy’s injuries following the incident. The school resource officer who was on duty at the time of the assault called local police to report the event, but police claimed McCoy was well enough to drive himself and the dog to the hospital for further medical attention.

McCoy’s gator experience came in handy, as his rescue mission was successful, and he and the dog escaped the pond and the alligator reasonably uninjured. McCoy needed stitches in his left hand, and Jake the dog was bitten multiple times, although neither was seriously injured.

Wildlife officials in Florida are attempting to remove the alligator from the pond. According to local news station WFTS, the gator is between seven and nine feet long.

In other cases, owners have jumped in to save their dogs from an alligator assault. Richard Wilbanks, 74, had to leap into the pond outside his Florida house in November 2020 to fend off an alligator that had bitten his puppy, Gunner.

Wilbanks and Gunner, like McCoy, escaped the onslaught with minimal injuries.