May 30, 2006
By Jennifer Lebovich
Miami Herald
When Mike Rubin heard a high pitched squeal coming from his six-month old golden retriever Monday morning, he knew his puppy Jasmine was in trouble.
''My first thought was it's a gator,'' Rubin said. ``That's what everyone is thinking about now. I just knew.''
Jasmine had run about 20 yards ahead of Rubin near a construction site in the Heron Bay development in Coral Springs.
A 6-foot alligator had Jasmine in his mouth in a death roll, Rubin said.
''The gator was flipping her over and killing her,'' he said. ``I jumped on top of both of them.''
Mired in mud, Rubin began punching the alligator in the head, but the blows did little to deter the reptile. Jasmine's head was locked in the gator's mouth and she didn't seem to be moving. Rubin feared she was dead.
''It was kind of like I'm not letting this gator have her,'' said Rubin, 45.
Rubin yanked her from the gator's mouth, and he worried the gator was going to come back for them. But the gator didn't make another move for them, and Rubin was able to get Jasmine to safety.
``I just reacted. Maybe it wasn't the brightest thing to do. Thank god my dog is alive. You love your animal, sometimes you do crazy things.''
A woman who saw the scuffle called 911, Rubin said.
Rubin and his wife, Noreen, rushed the dog to Coral Springs Animal Hospital, which confirmed that they treated the dog for puncture wounds.
The dog suffered a cut on her head and some bruises and was released at around 5 p.m., Rubin said.
Rubin had also been walking their dog, Frisbee, a 10-year-old border collie mix. Frisbee was not injured.
''It just happened in a split second,'' Noreen Rubin said. ``My husband didn't have a second to think twice . . . I could have lost a dog and a husband.''
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