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A South Florida man is devastated and angry after, he says, unsafe conditions at the marina where he resides led to the death of his service dog, Precious, when she was killed saving him from an alligator attack.
Precious was Robert Lineburger’s protector, his hero, his service dog. She warned him in advance of oncoming seizures, potentially saving his life on a regular basis. Last month, Precious gave her own life to save Robert’s when she jumped between him and an alligator ready to attack.
Lineburger lives on his boat at the Port LaBelle Marina in Labelle, Florida. One April night, as he headed down the poorly lit dock to use the marina’s facilities, Precious tagged along.
“She jumped in front of me. She was roughly 2 to 3 feet away from me when the gator attacked,” Lineburger told WFTX.
Though gators aren’t a rare sight in the area, Lineburger says marina management are responsible in this case and he’s demanding a property inspection to ensure such a tragedy doesn’t happen again.
“We have no lighting, which is mandatory code enforcement. Fire extinguishers are mandated by the fire marshal, we have cluttered docks, and at night with no light, you can’t see the clutter,” he said. “You trip over them, and now you put the alligator problem on top of it, it’s a place for a disaster to happen.”
Glades County code enforcement officers plan to inspect the property tomorrow.
Jamie Lucas
Jul 4, 2016 at 5:15 pm
I think they should pay for the new dog! Service Dogs are expensive.
Kiley Baricevic
Jun 29, 2016 at 1:08 pm
What an amazing animal he saved your life what a blessing that he was there to do that.
Dorfus D
Jun 26, 2016 at 8:57 pm
This is really sad. What a brave, heroic dog. I would be angry and devastated too. Marina Management can’t replace the support Precious provided Robert but hopefully they will have fix the issues and prevent other disasters from happening.