Rob Fox
Who lets their dogs swim in Florida? Why? Do they play fetch with their dogs on a busy interstate too? It feels like an activity bound to end in bloody disaster. One dog owner and the best friend he negligently lets swim in murky Florida ponds nearly experienced that sort of disaster. She got the whole thing on video.
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37-year-old Florida woman Corina Cox was out walking her dog Pokey in 2017, getting her dog some much-needed exercise after the pair were forced to evacuate their home in Kisame, Florida when Hurricane Irma hit. No doubt getting a kick out of Pokey jumping around and swimming in the water, Cox took out her phone and started recording the pup’s aquatic playtime. What she didn’t see was the gator slowly approaching her delicious dog. And she almost paid a steep price for not paying attention.
Look in the background and you’ll see the gator coming almost immediately.
It’s basically dumb luck that that dog wasn’t dinner by the end of the video. You can’t see what happens next because Cox ditches her phone and starts yanking on the dog’s leash to get it away from the predator.
According to Cox, the encounter freaked her out so bad that she couldn’t walk.
“It scared me so bad that I couldn’t stand up and had jelly legs crawling up to the house. The gator stayed there for about an hour ’til the wind started to pick up from Irma. I imagine he was waiting for him to come back so he could eat him. “I definitely learned a lesson on many levels.”
Fortunately, no dogs were violently mauled and eaten over the course of filming this video. Pokey has all his paws and legs and tails, and Cox still has her best friend. And, now, she’s a little warier of letting her dog swim in Florida ponds.
Editors Note: This article was originally published on June 22, 2020.
