Alligator that killed 85-pound husky captured Monday morning

The alligator that killed an 85-pound husky in a neighborhood on Hilton Head Island last week was captured on Monday, March 28.

Joe Maffo of Critter Management, and his grandson, Joe, 15, teamed up to corral the 7-foot male in a pond on the "Golden Bear" golf course at Indigo Run, at around 11 a.m. The gator weighed about 100 pounds and was 18 to 20 years old, Joe Maffo said. It had definitely been fed, he added, and will be put down, or harvested.

The husky, Kodah, had gotten away from the house and apparently was drinking water at the edge of the pond when he was attacked, said its owners, Ron and Beth Ann Julseth of Indigo Run.

The dog’s body was pulled from the water about an hour after the early morning attack on March 16. Teeth marks indicated it had been grabbed by the head and pulled into the water, Ron Julseth said.

The family had pleaded for the alligator to be removed.

Joe Maffo, whose Critter Management company is hired to remove nuisance alligators using state permits, said throughout the week that he expected to remove the gator soon and was awaiting a removal tag.

The Julseths used the incident to warn people not to let animals or children get close to lagoons.

“This was just unnecessary,” said Beth Ann Julseth. “We’re saddened by it. I don’t want anybody to have to go through this. I don’t want his death to be in vain.

“I know that wildlife belongs here and has its place. But the dog has its place, too. He wasn’t swimming in that pond. I’m afraid that it could have easily been someone’s child or grandchild, God forbid. I don’t want anything else to happen.”

Ron Julseth said the dog should not have been off-leash, but it happened by accident. He said Kodah slipped away as he was taking two puppies out the door. One of the husky puppies is theirs and one belongs to a daughter.

“We kept him on a leash at all times, but occasionally he would get away and we would go get him,” Ron Julseth said.

On this morning, a neighbor called with bad news as Ron Julseth was looking for Kodah. The dog was in a lagoon on a nearby street.

“Kodah would not go in the water,” Ron Julseth said. “He was not a water dog. He must have gone to get a drink of water.”

Beth Ann Jones Julseth grew up in Beaufort County and knows the ways of alligators. She knows not to feed them. She knows to respect them. But the Julseths think an alligator that grabs a dog at water’s edge is too aggressive.

“I know that gators are gators and we are infringing on their territory,” Ron Julseth said. “But we lost Kodah less than 100 yards from the house. It is very distressing for me. He was part of the family, your best buddy.”

“He was a very peaceful, soulful animal,” Beth Ann Julseth said. “He was a lap dog. He wouldn’t harm a flea. I’m still recuperating emotionally.”

The Julseths called Critter Management to remove Kodah’s body from the lagoon, where a gator was nudging it. A funeral home was called and the 5-year-old family pet was cremated. His ashes are on the mantelpiece, and his owners are begging for safety around the Lowcountry’s countless lagoons and alligators.

A woman was bitten by an alligator in 2013 while walking dogs near a lagoon in Hilton Head Plantation. In 2012, an alligator bit a woman who was fishing in a Shipyard Plantation lagoon.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Alligator that killed 85-pound husky captured Monday morning."