A Florida man locked horns with a large alligator in order to save his dog from the clutches of certain doom, according to UPI. Since the 66-year-old wasn’t about to let the seven-foot gator chow down on his West Highland Terrier, the man entered a nearby pond to rescue the dog from the alligator’s gaping maw.

While doing some work in his yard on Friday, Steve Gustafson reportedly heard his 9-year-old dog Bounce let out a painful yelp. After taking a moment to check things out, Gustafson discovered that the aforementioned alligator was attempting to drag his dog into the water. To keep this gruesome incident from getting any worse, the grandfather sprang into action.

“I just knew that my best friend was going to be dead. And I took off,” he explained. “For whatever reason, I don’t know, I just yelled, ‘you’re not going to get her!’ and just leaped on the gator … just like you do some silly belly flop in a pool. The only difference was I landed on top of a gator.”

The San Francisco Gate reports that the impact sent Gustafson, his dog, and the nefarious gator underwater. Since the pond wasn’t too deep, it didn’t take long for the trio to resurface. As Steve pushed the alligator towards the shore, the beast let go of his prey, though not before sinking its pointy teeth into Gustafson’s arm.

“He just snapped, and when he snapped the second time, I got him with his mouth closed and hung on like they show on TV,” the dog-resucing hero explained.

When Gustafson finally let go of the alligator’s mouth, the creature retreated back into the pond. In order to make an example out of the dog-munching beast, a trapper was hired to capture the alligator. According to UPI, the man intends to have the alligator stuffed and put on display in his home. Thankfully, the dog and his owner didn’t suffer any serious injuries from the encounter.
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