WESTON, Fla., March 29 (UPI) -- Trappers in Weston, Fla., are looking for a large alligator they believe killed a pet dog during the weekend.
A neighbor found the terrier mix Monday with tooth marks wildlife officers believe were inflicted by an alligator, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Tuesday.
The dog disappeared Friday, said Jorge Pino, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Pino said neighbors told officers they saw a 10-foot alligator sunning itself on the bank of a lake. He said if the gator is caught, it will be killed.
Weston is just east of the Everglades, making its lake accessible to alligators from the wild area.
Florida wildlife officers handle about 15,000 alligator calls a year. Since 1948, when officials started keeping records, there have been more than 200 unprovoked alligators attacks on humans -- 13 of them fatal -- the commission said.
