Florida Puppy Saved From Alligator's Jaws Gets Job as Deputy Dog to Teach Kids About Safety

Gunner the 4-month-old puppy will help Florida's Lee Country Sheriff's Office teach kids about alligator safety, school bus safety, and more.

he puppy who become famous for surviving a shocking alligator attack is making headlines again.

This fall, Gunner the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy was grabbed by a gator while on a walk with his owner in Estero, Florida. Gunner's human, 74-year-old Richard Wilbanks, refused to let the reptile take his dog, wrestling with the gator and prying the puppy from its jaws.

Footage of the daring rescue quickly went viral and made Gunner famous overnight. The pup even caught the eyes of Florida's Lee County Sheriff's Office, which decided to make Gunner a "deputy dog" because of his "tenacity and fight for survival," according to a Facebook post from the agency

Gunner will serve as a safety and security officer under the Deputy Dogs Pets on Patrol program at the Lee County Sheriff's Office. His responsibilities will include visiting children to teach them about safety, reports FOX 13.

"School bus safety, safety as it relates to the water — alligators in the pond, toads, cane toads. Any types of danger that children face every day," Carmine Dellaquilla, who works with the Deputy Dogs program, told First Coast News about what the 4-month-old puppy will teach kids.

Wilbanks told the outlet that he and Gunner are looking forward to meeting new people and that he thinks that his dog will have no problem facing a room full of children after escaping the mouth of an alligator.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno appears to have a soft spot for rescue dogs. Not only did the sheriff make sure Gunner got his "gold shield," but he also adopted a dog name Chance in March 2019, after the canine was found abandoned with its mouth taped shut. Chance has also been deputized and now serves as "spokes-dog" for the agency, per FOX 13.

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