A Peaceful Day in the Yard Turned Into a Nightmare When an Alligator Struck

A German shepherd dog narrowly escaped death in an alligator attack just outside of his home in Wesley Chapel, Florida, according to the pet’s parents.

The dog, named Zeus, suffered multiple injuries after “a large alligator broke through [the] fence” of his owner’s home and “attacked him” on the night of June 2, according to a GoFundMe page created by the dog’s distraught owner, Susan Alkhatib.

“Our beloved dog Zeus was sitting peacefully in the lanai with my dad when he heard a small animal in the backyard,” wrote Alkhatib. According to the owner, Zeus “ran out the doggy door to investigate” and “within seconds,” the alligator “grabbed the dog and dragged him back into the water.”

“We rushed outside with a flashlight and were shocked to see Zeus swimming back toward us, wounded but fighting to survive,” Alkhatib continued. “My mom waded into the water to help him out, and we rushed him to the nearest emergency vet as he was bleeding heavily from his mouth.”

One family member recalled the attack to WFLA, “All of a sudden, I couldn’t hear him anymore. My dad came in frantic. I’d never seen him like that. He said, ‘The alligator just took Zeus.'”

“The alligator had just let go of Zeus,” Alkhatib told the outlet. “We started yelling at him to come toward us. When he got closer, he got tired. So we had to kind of go into the pond a little bit to get him.”

Zeus suffered a displaced jaw and multiple puncture wounds to his neck in the vicious attack, according to the GoFundMe page. The page has raised over $6,800 of its $10,000 to help cover veterinary bills.

Photos released by the dog’s owner show the pooch bleeding from his neck and his injured jaw. Alkhatib called the dog’s escape from the attack “a miracle” on her GoFundMe page.

“The vet told us the gator had just missed his jugular — it looked like Zeus’s entire head had been in the gator’s mouth. The fact that he made it out alive is nothing short of a miracle,” she wrote.

“We’re doing everything we can to help our boy heal, but the cost of his care has become overwhelming and unexpected. If you know Zeus, you know he’s a fighter … We just want to see him happy and healthy again,” the page concluded.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has trappers searching for the attacking alligator, per WFLA.