Good idea - site him for animal cruelty - afterall he did jump on the gator's back, grabbed his leg, went down with him, and saved the pup. But he is definitely cruel. Are you kidding me - this guy loves his dog and risked his life to save him. There are some of us that believe a dog is happiest living as a dog - free and roaming his property-and sometimes that comes with a risk. He took that risk and paid the consequenses. Don't him hear complaining so why are you????

Amen!

I am complaining because the gator had to be killed. Hope this discussion will end soon. I think all sides have been heard, and this is why TOTV is so useful.

CFrance...I think gators get killed with regularity. Even if they haven't attacked anything.

Gators are killed all the time in this area. They are used to feed people's family's. I think the season opened up sometime in mid august.

So that's a reason to have one killed, stuffed, and display it as a trophy? I stand by my initial thought--keep your pet out of harm's way and nobody gets hurt.

Dog-kid
 

For all those who simply cant fathom the guy that thinks the behavior of the owner to allow his dog to run loose was not right..and lives right by a pond that could have snakes, gators, etc. REPLACE the word "dog" in this piece with the word, "small child" and see how quickly you would label that "irresponsible" and "neglecting proper supervision." Let's face it folks, the whole thing killed an animal living in its natural habitat because this man neglected to supervise and control the actions of his pet dog. And for this, you call him a hero and give him his 15 minutes of fame...ridiculous! If this was a child, he would be in danger of losing custody.

Bingo

Being from the country gives me a different view of animals and nature. Rules that one must or should follow are greatly different from farm to inner city. Same with people: In the country I knew and respected all my neighbors where in some cases inner city folks do not always even know their neighbors. Now imagine putting us together in The Villages with such different understanding of nature, animals, etc. and you have these kind of variations on just what the right thing to do is and how big a variation they have even for the seemingly exact circumstance.

:shrug:

:beer3:

Well said....

Up here they shoot deer, in season, for venison meat.
To others, who love all animals, that might seem cruel.
Up here it is sport and it's called hunting season when all the guys go away to "camp" in November.

I would be in favor of saving the little dog vs. protecting the alligator.
Again, it could have been that man's grandchild toddling down to the water. Yes, parents should hold their hands.....but it's been known to happen.

I'm sure he feels much safer, for his entire family's welfare, with the alligator gone.

And when the gator lunged onto the property that belongs to the dog’s owner, it too became fair game and paid the price for trespassing.

Still having hard time with this one. I know everyone saying so a nice guy and all,but did anyone see this happen? are there witnesses,he looks what 65 and he jumps on his back hooks back his leg,grabs his tail until the dog is released from his mouth.The guys on television seem much stronger and younger doing this. Did anyone see them take awat a 7ft gator. Did he go to the hospital for injuries, did the dog go to the vets for injuries.Was there somekind of police or accident report or transport report. Who contacted the Orlando paper?Maybe there is a reason the village paper did not. Just because the newpaper writes a story or gives a interview I do not believe everything is Fact.I asked about his screen name GatorGus,was that before or after this happened that he chose that name. This also was his 2nd posts which I wondered.Being a retired teacher I have seen it all,so sometimes I just questioned. First thing I told the Ex about this event ,first thing she says I do not believe it. Do not believe everything on TMZ.

Alligators are opportunist predators. If it was not Steve dog, it would have been someone else’s pet or someone, just a matter of time. This alligator did not care where its food came from, remember Steve was right there. These are the alligators you want to remove, makes living and enjoying the home and yard safer. Alligators have hundreds of years of training in stealth stalking it meal. If you see one it because it don’t care that you see it. When it is hunting food, whatever it has decided will be it meal will never see it.

Now there’s a friendly idea. Got trash, no problem. Just throw it over the fence onto your neighbor’s property.

Yes to all the above, witness called 911. Steve just one of those guys who ages slow. I'm the NGT who removed the gator and the 7 foot report was wrong, the gator was 7 foot 4 inchs. Steve did go to hospital and dog to the vet. And accident report was made with SCSO as wel as FWC. It will be in the Village paper with next print.