85-year-old Florida woman killed by alligator while rescuing her dog

Feb. 20 (UPI) -- An 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator on Monday while she was walking her dog in a Florida retirement community.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and St. Lucie Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the Spanish Lakes Fairways community in Fort Pierce at about noon, WPTV West Palm Beach reports. Witnesses told reporters that the alligator lunged from the water and grabbed the woman's dog. She tried to rescue the dog and was instead attacked.

The dog reportedly survived the attack.

The alligator, said to be about 10-feet long, was captured by trappers early Monday afternoon, according to trapper Robert Lilly. He estimates that it weighs 600 to 700 pounds.

"Snagged him on the bottom. He never surfaced. He stayed down the whole time," Lilly told West Palm Beach ABC affiliate WPBF 25. "Got a second hook in him and then a hard line in him so we could get him up."

According to FWC, alligators rarely cause serious injuries to humans in Florida. Female alligators rarely grow larger than 10 feet, while males can grow as large as 14 feet. They are considered "opportunistic feeders," the commission said.