Florida wildlife officials have been searching for two days for the American crocodile that attacked and killed Kygo, a nine-year-old Dutch shepherd on Thursday morning in a residential canal in South Miami, but the reptile has not been located so far.
According to reports from Local 10, officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) searched the waterways in the area near Miller Drive and Southwest 63rd Court, where the attack occurred, but found no results.
The attack occurred around 9:30 am in the 6200 block of Southwest 64th Court, a residential area with direct access to a canal.
The dog's owner, Enrique Pomares, recounted that he let his pet out into the backyard as he did every morning when the reptile emerged from the water and dragged it towards the canal. Kygo weighed about 70 pounds.
Pomares described a devastating scene: "The dog was trying to escape. I tugged on him several times, and it was simply horrible to witness everything happening."
The man attempted to save his pet by throwing a kayak at the reptile to distract it, but the crocodile returned with the animal already lifeless in its jaws. "It showed it to me like a trophy. It was horrible. I had never seen anything like it," he said.
The incident has raised alarms among the neighbors in the area. Resident Jacqueline Correa stated that she saw two crocodiles in the area and has called the authorities multiple times without any concrete action being taken.
"It's a bit distressing. We have had people calling about this, and nothing is being done to relocate the crocodiles," said Correa, who also recorded a video in June showing what he described as the largest specimen swimming in the same waterways where the attack occurred.
But the FWC explained that the transfer of the animal is not automatic: since it is a species protected by state and federal laws, officials must first monitor the behavior of the reptile and determine whether it meets the established criteria for relocation.
Killing an American crocodile is a third-degree felony in Florida, punishable by up to five years in prison.
The remains of Kygo were found hours later on an embankment a few houses away by a neighbor from the area, Dexter Lovett, who claimed he had been warning people about the presence of the reptile: "I have been warning people not to go near the canal. The crocodile is large and it eats. I've seen it several times."
Enrique Pomares estimated that the crocodile that killed his dog measured between 13 and 15 feet, although this is a personal assessment and not an official measurement.
The family had rescued Kygo and had been with them for about six years: "He has taken a member of our family," the man expressed.
Meanwhile, authorities urge residents to keep children and pets away from canals, ponds, and shorelines, especially at night, and not to attempt to approach, feed, or capture the animal.
The FWC has enabled the toll-free line 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286) to report alligator sightings in residential areas.
This episode adds to a series of encounters with reptiles in Florida during the summer of 2026. In early August, a nearly three-meter alligator bit a woman while she was swimming in the Silver River, in Marion County, and the victim lost her right arm.
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