Florida Service Dog Killed While Protecting Owner From Alligator

News of yet another alligator attack has shaken things up in the state of Florida. A service dog named Precious has passed away after protecting her owner from being attacked by an alligator.

Fox News reports the protective pit bill died after jumping in between her owner to save the man from an alligator attack in the southwestern portion of Florida. The alligator attack and death of this heroic service dog from Florida has prompted an inspection to determine whether or not the marina where the man was living with the dog should be deemed to unsafe to live at.

“We have no lighting, which is mandatory code enforcement… you can’t see the clutter. Now you put the alligator problem on top of it, it’s a place for a disaster to happen.”

This, however, is not a recent alligator attack as it took place back in April when Precious, the service dog, jumped in front of her owner at the Port LaBelle Marina just as an alligator attempted to attack him. The reason the man from Florida had the service dog in the first place is because he suffers from regular seizures.

“She was roughly 2 to 3 feet away from me when the gator attacked.”

Word of this particular alligator attack in Florida broke one week after an alligator snatched a 2-year-old from Nebraska away from his parents at the Disney World resort. Despite a frantic search for the boy, his body was not found until the following day.

Following the attack of Lane Graves, Disney promised to put up alligator warning signs to accompany the “no swimming” signs. Lineburger, the owner of the service dog, understands nothing will ever bring the dog back. However, he, like the parents of Lane Graves, wanted to make sure nothing like this attack never happens to anyone else.

“I do not want her death to be in vain,” he said. “At least let it accomplish something and get some of these violations taken care of.”

As such, the owner of the service dog has asked the Glades County code compliance officers to give the marina where the dog was killed by the alligator an inspection. The inspectors’ findings regarding the marina and whether it is safe or needs work is set to be released on Monday. Neighbors of the owner of the service dog claim seeing an alligator around the marina is fairly common. This particular alligator is being reported to be 13-feet long.

In 2014, there were just shy of 7,000 alligators harvested in the state of Florida.

According to People magazine, Precious, the service dog who went everywhere with the man from Florida, has now been laid to rest in the man’s backyard. The owner of the service dog firmly believes the lack of lighting is one of the largest reasons this alligator attack took place at this marina in Florida. The owner of the service dog is hoping to use the attack to get better lighting on the marina.

Dock master Peter Sullivan originally gave permission to have the alligator that attacked and killed the service dog in Florida removed through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. According to DailyMail, he, however, later changed his mind. Peter Sullivan went on to claim the alligator should stay in its natural habitat. As such, he did not believe the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had a right to relocate it and did not give them permission to do it.

Florida Man's service dog named Precious killed while protecting him from alligator attack https://t.co/uf3nt5DrKL pic.twitter.com/uHoZ9OgENV

— People (@people) June 25, 2016

Is this alligator attack only now getting the media attention it deserves because of what happened to the 2-year-old from Nebraska? Will authorities do anything to fix the lighting issues on the marina to prevent this from happening again? Rest in peace Precious, the service dog from Florida who managed to protect her owner until her very last breath.

[Image via Shutterstock]