Prize rodeo horse left with gruesome injuries after huge ALLIGATOR attacks him in pond
SWNS Crown was taking his daily swim when the huge American alligator latched onto his backside
Crown, 21, is believed to have been taking his daily swim when the huge American alligator latched onto his backside and tried to pull him under the pond's surface. Luckily, the horse managed to escape the vicious gator's jaws. But Crown's owner Mike Santo, 47, was worried when he did not meet him at the front gate of his 40-acre farm as usual. Mr Santo, a professional cowboy, went searching his property and discovered his injured horse outside the farm's barn with gruesome wounds.
A local vet was forced to cut away hanging skin left behind after the gator attack and treat Crown's wounds with strong antibiotics. Mr Santo, of New Port Richey, Florida, USA, contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) to help catch the dangerous gator following the attack on June 27. Although they have spotted the vicious alligator, the creature has not yet been captured. The attack sparks concern as alligators usually hunt at night and do not normally attack large creatures, like 1,000lb Crown.
SWNS Crown's owner is raising funds to help his horse's recovery
Mr Santo said: "I could tell something was wrong when I got home. Crown usually hears my truck and comes to meet me at the gate and he didn't come. "Crown loves to throw himself in the pond but on this day, he didn't realize there was an alligator in there too. "It looks like as he was getting out, the alligator latched onto his backside and ripped off his skin. "Thankfully it was more that his skin was affected than the muscle but if it had been further down his leg we'd have had to put him down.
SWNS The horse was found outside the farm's barn with gruesome wounds
"It's really gruesome, and hard to look at if you don't have a strong stomach. "I immediately called a vet, and we managed to cut away a lot of skin to give him the best chance at healing. "Alligators have filthy mouths, the bile in their mouths immediately starts to break down their prey so we're just trying to keep his infection at bay. "We haven't caught it yet but the FWC has sent a state trapper. We've set some bait so hopefully we will catch him and he will be destroyed, as is the law. "We have seen him though he's huge, about ten-foot-long."
Mr Santo is keeping Crown and his three other horses inside until the gator is captured, after which it will be destroyed. Although Mr Santo has his property fenced off to prevent gators from entering the farm's bodies of water, he believes the gator entered his property by land. Mr Santo said: "It is the law in Florida that any gator over six-foot-long is destroyed. It's not safe. It's been a really stressful week here for us all." Crown, who has made almost $100k in his career as a racehorse, was forced to miss a rodeo last weekend, but Mike says his family is just happy he's okay.