AUBURNDALE, Fla. — FRIDAY A.M. UPDATE: A contracted nuisance alligator trapper removed an 11-foot-3-inch alligator Thursday night from the immediate area of a pond was a woman said her dog was attacked by a gator, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
A Polk County woman says an alligator attacked and killed her 100-pound dog at the retention pond Thursday morning.
- LATEST: FWC hired a gator trapper, 11-foot gator removed from pond Thursday night
- Cynthia Robinson said dog was attacked at Auburndale retention pond
- 100-pound dog was pulled into pond by gator, Robinson said
Cynthia Robinson told investigators that she was walking the dog near a retention pond at about 7 a.m. when the attack happened.
"He was so fast. He took my dog, and he was gone. ... Tank didn’t even stand a chance," said Cynthia Robinson of her 6-year-old dog.
“I wanted to help him, but that gator was huge,” Robinson said. “I haven’t seen a big gator like that but maybe at Busch Gardens.”
A trapper with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been dispatched to search for the alligator. Polk County Parks Director Gaye Sharpe said the park has since been closed.
Robinson said she is sorry to lose her dog but doesn’t want the gator to attack again.
“All I could do was stand there and watch my dog get eat,” she said. “And I just don’t want it to happen to no one else or a kid or anything.”
No further details were immediately available.