50-Pound Pit Bull Killed By Gator At State College Of Florida In Venice: FWC

VENICE, FL — An alligator killed a 50-pound pit bull at the State College of Florida campus in Venice on Wednesday evening.

The dog was unleashed and roaming freely near the lake in front of the college when it was killed, said Senior Officer Adam Brown, a public information officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The owner is a resident of the area.

“Unfortunately, the dog was not on a leash. I think the dog had gone near the bank of the pond there, near a culvert,” he told Patch. “It happened rather quickly. I’m not sure if the owner saw it or saw the confusion or ruckus after the fact.”

Brown believes the gator came up and grabbed the pit bull, which never resurfaced.

“He was never seen from again,” he said, adding, “It’s pretty tragic. Unfortunately, that’s somewhere we happen to see more and more of as more people move into the area.”

The FWC received the call about the gator attack around 7:45 p.m. and sent a trapper licensed through the agency’s Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP).

The FWC permit allows trappers to remove gators that are “the approximate size of what is reported and seen in an area,” Brown said.

At the State College of Florida, there were two similarly sized gators — one was 6 feet, 9 inches long, the other was 7 feet, 10 inches long.

“It was difficult to determine which of the alligators in the area was the offending gator,” he said. “For the safety of the public, we thought it was best to remove both of them.”

Brown is uncertain what happened to the gators when they were removed from the campus.

According to the FWC permit, once the gator is removed from an area, it becomes the property of the trapper, he said. “And the trapper can do what (they) want with it.”

Trappers often choose to harvest these gators, selling their meat and hide, or selling them to local alligator farms for breeding, Brown told Patch.

February and March, as the weather and waters warm up, is an active time for Florida alligators as they search for food.

“It’s that time of year where we’re really getting quite a few calls,” he said. “You start to see that warmer weather and activity of all Florida wildlife picks up, but particularly Florida alligators.”

Gators become even more active in April and May, as mating season starts, the weather is even warmer and pond water levels start to rise, Brown said. “They start to spread out and stretch their legs, so to speak, and go from pond to pond. That’s when you get more reports of them crossing golf courses and hopping from pond to pond.”

With many people having moved to the area from out of state over the last year, he believes it’s important to educate people on how to live with gators.

“If they’re from out of state, they’ve never had an encounter with an alligator. They don’t know the best practices,” he said.

The FWC recommends the following general alligator safety tips:

• Don’t leave food out that might attract them.
• Don’t feed alligators.
• Swim only in designated areas.
• Don’t swim at night.

When it comes to pets, dogs and cats are similar in size to the natural prey of alligators, FWC said. Owners should not allow pets to swim, exercise or drink in or near bodies of water and should keep pets on a short leash and away from the water.

People concerned about an alligator should call the FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

Generally, an alligator is deemed a nuisance if it is at least 4 feet in length and the caller believes it poses a threat to people, pets or property, according to the FWC website. There are also situations when smaller alligators wind up in places that are not acceptable, such as swimming pools or garages, and must be removed.