Sunrise Neighborhood On Alert After Dog Snatched By Gator
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami) – Trappers are in a Sunrise neighborhood Wednesday after a dog, walking along the banks of a lake, was snatched Tuesday night by an alligator.
Inside the lake at "Residences of Sawgrass Mills" neighbrhood in Sunrise, neighbors say a hungry gator is on the prowl.
A mixed-breed 50 pound dog named Jessie, according to the dog's owner Mark Byers, went out around the corner and went off the seawall and got snatched by a gator Tuesday.
Byers said his daughter, Taylor Byers, is too upset to talk about the family pet, Jessie. She was just feet away when the incident happened.
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"It was dark. She was there, heard it, you know and saw the splashing," said Byers when asked if his daughter saw the attack. "Happened quick--like these gator attacks do."
A neighbor told wildlife officials that they saw the commotion.
"We did have a neighbor across the water see--after the event happened--kind of a wake in the water and then she shined a flashlight and saw the light in the gator's eyes," said Liz Barraco with Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Other neighbors said they heard the cries from across the lake.
"We heard this loud, giant, horrible screech and we all immediately ran outside of our houses," Kayla Berman said.
Rodolfo Perez heard the commotion, came out and watched helplessly.
"I feel sorry for the dog. It's screaming and screaming and we can not do nothing," said Perez.
People who live on the lake, in the Enclave neighborhood near 136th Avenue and 12th Street, said the gator has been swimming around recently looking for food.
The alligator, believed to be about 8 feet long, was seen eating a duck earlier this week. Claudia Loelke captured home video of a gator eating a duck in her back yard just hours before the attack.
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