http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32101001?gt1=43001He lost fingers saving his dog from gator attack
Alligator had Wheaten terrier in its jaws when owner rescued her; she’s OK
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 7:57 a.m. CT, Thurs., July 23, 2009
That man’s best friend thing works both ways, as a lucky Florida dog that was saved from the jaws of a hungry alligator by her owner can attest today.
Mandy, a 45-pound Wheaten terrier, sat docilely by her master’s side Thursday as David Grounds, his right hand heavily bandaged, revealed to TODAY’s Meredith Vieira just how far a man will go to save his furry companion.
“It wasn’t a bad trade,” the 66-year-old Grounds said from his home in West Palm Beach, Fla. “Mandy for two fingers.”
Jaws of death
Grounds was remarkably calm, considering that just a few days earlier — on Saturday, July 18 — he’d watched in horror as the dog he’d had since she was a puppy seven years ago ran to the edge of a backyard pond and was snatched by a 7-foot alligator.
Without a thought for his own safety, Grounds ran through the brush to the water’s edge, where the gator had what it thought was breakfast clamped between its crushing jaws. “I just grabbed the lower jaw with this hand and the upper jaw with this hand,” he said, indicating his bandaged right hand and his left.
At this crucial moment, Grounds remembered something he’d heard long ago: If you jab a gator in the eye, it will release whatever it’s got hold of. Grounds jabbed, the alligator let go of Mandy, and for an instant, everything stopped.
“When he released Mandy for a split second he was still frozen, and he didn’t move,” Grounds told Vieira. “I’m thinking, ‘OK, that was easy, but now what do I do?’ I knew I only had a split second before it started reacting, and I tried to throw him and run to the right. But unfortunately, he caught my right hand.”
‘I knew I was in big trouble’
Grounds said he never thought he was in mortal danger, but he also didn’t know how he was going to get his hand free. That’s when the alligator went into the roll the big reptiles use to subdue prey.
“I knew I was in big trouble when he had my hand and he was twisting, but in a split second he had broken my fingers off, and I was free and I knew I was safe from him at least,” Grounds said.
The hero pet owner lost parts of his index and ring fingers on his right hand. But other than worrying about how he’s going to type, he didn’t seem particularly concerned. After all, his precious pet was sitting at his side, a white T-shirt covering the cuts and scratches on her back and belly inflicted by the alligator, but otherwise none the worse for wear.
