Eight-foot alligator snatches and KILLS beloved family dog Jessie during family walk along Florida lakeside

FLORIDA -- Traps have been set up around a lakeside Florida suburb after a family dog was snatched by a gator and pulled into the water this week.

Jessie, a 50-pound mixed-breed, had been the pet of Mark Byers for the last 10 years.

Mr Byers daughter was walking their dog along the lake at the back of their Sunrise home on Tuesday when suddenly an eight-foot-long alligator came out of the water and grabbed her.

'It's an awful tragedy,' Mr Byers told Local 10 News. 'It's terrible.'

Mr Byers said the gator has been lurking in the lake for as long as he can remember. However locals say the reptile has been seen much more frequently over the last two weeks.

Mr Byers built a sea wall to stop the animal getting to his dog or his family.

However Jessie was playing in the water while out on the walk - something they could never train her to stop doing.

[Hey, I've got an idea on how to keep your dog out of alligator-infested waters.... keep it on a leash!!]

Mr. Byers says it's a tragedy. I say it was preventable.

The dog was being walked off-leash by Mr Byers' daughter,
Taylor (pictured) when the incident occurred

That's when the gator suddenly snatched her.

'She’s just gone. Things happen in a split second,' Mr Byers told The Sun Sentinel.

'It’s just a sad situation.'

Officers from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are now setting traps along the shore.

And the future does not sound good for the gator if and when it is trapped.

 

Now the alligator will be killed because it did what alligators do.

'My understanding is that gators generally of this size, if they have a history like this, aren't going to be placed elsewhere,' spokeswoman Liz Barraco said.

Ms Barraco warned people who live in the area to be extra cautious, especially if they live around freshwater bodies.

Avoid the waters edge, especially around dusk and dawn, is safest. 

(Daily Mail - Jan 8, 2015)