Alligator that killed 85-pound dog captured Monday morning

The alligator that killed an 85-pound husky in a pond on a Hilton Head Island golf course 12 days ago was captured Monday and will be killed.

Joe Maffo, of Critter Management, and his grandson Joey, 15, teamed up to corral the 7-foot male around 11 a.m. in the same pond — on the Golden Bear Course at Indigo Run — where the husky, Kodah, was attacked on March 16. The gator weighed about 100 pounds and was 18 to 20 years old, Joe Maffo said. It was to be killed on Monday, he said.

Kodah had gotten away from its owners on March 16 and apparently was drinking water at the edge of the pond when he was attacked, said owners Ron and Beth Ann Julseth of Indigo Run.

“This alligator was fed; he was aggressive,” Maffo said minutes after catching it.

“He came to the water’s edge (during the capture) and laid there because that’s where he’s been fed,” he explained. “And that’s how the dog lost its life. It’s a darned shame.”

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

Maffo was convinced the alligator captured Monday was the one that had killed Kodah because of fight marks on its body.

“They’re not your friend,” Maffo said. “Please don’t allow your dog, your children, anyone near the water’s edge.”

On Monday, Indigo Run residents said the property owners’ association sent out an email blast to residents a few weeks ago urging them to not allow pets and children near lagoons in the spring. A warning also appears on electronic signs at both the front and back gates of Indigo Run.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Alligator that killed 85-pound dog captured Monday morning."