Man attacked by alligator at Florida animal show

Like Steve Irwin, Jeffrey “Swampmaster” Quattrocchi is a nitwit that deserved to have his arm ripped off. Its an alligator not a kitten. You don’t go into a cage with a lion and expect not to be attacked. Look what happened to that Sigfried and Roy dude. As far as I’m concerned these people deserve what they get.

An alligator show at the annual Cotee River Seafood Festival in Pasco County went terribly wrong Sunday afternoon, when the show’s star suffered a severe bite wound from an eight foot alligator.

Photo Gallery: Pictures of the alligator attack

Event organizers say the attack happened in front of a crowd during the second of three shows Sunday put on by the “Swampmaster” Jeffrey Quattrocchi. Home video shot by a person in the crowd shows the 45 year old handler walking in circles around the gator before it twirled around and latched onto his arm.

“Everyone thought it was part of the show, but when people realized it was real blood, that’s when it got real serious,” said Jason Cunningham, a volunteer with the Florida Guard Association who provided first aid immediately after the attack.

On the video tape, you can hear Quattrocchi repeatedly scream as he struggles to free his arm from the gator’s powerful jaw. Witnesses say the gator twisted in the water for several seconds before Quattrocchi finally broke free and leaped out of the tank to safety.

New Port Richey Police report the handler was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg where he underwent surgery Sunday night.

Two alligators used in the show were taken into custody by a wildlife trapper working for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A spokesman for the agency says the alligators will be returned to the handler when he is released from the hospital. Quattrocchi writes on his MySpace page he’s suffered alligator bites at least 13 times in the past.

He most recently recovered from a near deadly staph infection and returned to his shows after loosing nearly 35 pounds in the hospital.

Police say Quattrocchi told them, this was his worst encounter yet with a gator. Bayfront Medical Center had no patient information late Sunday night, but police did not believe his injuries, would be life threatening.