Florida woman fights off five-foot alligator with bare hands after it attacked her dog

‘I just punched him, punched and punched,’ Danie Wright told local news

A Florida woman fought off a five-foot alligator with her bare hands after it attacked her four-month-old puppy.

Danie Wright was walking her pup, Dax, behind her Land O’ Lakes home last week when the gator tried to snatch up her furry friend.

“I heard a squeal, and I got pulled,” she told local news outlet WTSP.

She said the gator dragged Dax by his collar, “and I wasn't gonna let go.”

Danie Wright of Florida, fought off a five-foot alligator with her bare hands after it attacked her four-month-old puppy (WTSP/Getty Images)

The gator came 15 feet out of the water in its failed attempt to catch the pup. Wright said she didn’t see the lurking reptile at first.

When her puppy was pulled into a nearby creek, Wright’s instincts kicked in.

“I just punched him, punched and punched,” she said. “I punched him in the eye enough that he kind of let go, he unclamped a little, and I pulled off.”

Wright was injured during the fight. The gator’s teeth “dragged down my arm,” she said.

“Just be careful with your dogs, you know these alligators are no joke,” Wright said, advising other dog owners to “leave your phone at home” to limit distractions on walks.

The gator, not pictured, came 15 feet out of the water in its failed attempt to catch the pup (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

As for the fate of the gator, it was caught and removed from Wright’s property by trappers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials, per WTSP.

The Independent has reached out to the commission for further updates on the gator.

The commission has previously warned to keep pets on a leash and a “safe distance” away from water, as your furry friends can “resemble alligators’ natural prey.”

As of May, there have been two “major” alligator bites on people in Florida in 2025, according to the commission’s statistics.