Living in Louisiana has its own kind of chaos. Sure, it’s beautiful—but the wildlife isn’t just something you admire from a distance. It’s in your yard, pond, maybe even under your car.
And if your home sits near any sort of natural body of water, the line between peaceful and dangerous can disappear in an instant.
That’s the reality TikTok user Jenna Guerrero (@thejennaguerrero) was dealing with when her dog Charlie suddenly went missing. She shared the experience in a series of videos that sparked discussion
Louisiana Woman’s Dog Goes Missing… Near A Pond Infested With Alligators
In the fifth video she posted regarding her missing long-haired chihuahua Charlie, the four others showing her in tears and walking around the area looking for him, Guerrero shares a devastating theory.
“I’m almost sure at this point that my dog was eaten by one of the alligators in our backyard,” Guerrero began.
She explained that her family was familiar with a small gator they’d named Frank, who lived in the pond behind their home. She had even talked about feeding him crawfish peelings in earlier videos.
“He’s a small alligator, he couldn’t do any harm,” she said. But the day Charlie went missing, an unknown alligator appeared.
“Yesterday afternoon, when I was sitting outside looking for Charlie—just desperately—I did see a big old gator back here,” she explains.
That’s when she called for help. “I called the Gator Man,” she said. “Because what do you do whenever you need to catch an alligator? You call the Alligator Man.”
She Shows the Trap—and Something’s Already Moving
In the video, Guerrero walks viewers through the backyard and shows the lines the “Gator Man” set up. “There’s this metal rod in the ground, and then it has a pole attached to it,” she explains. “That is some like… rotting chicken on the hook there.”
Then she points to another setup. “Here is the other line that has something on it already… oh God, it’s an alligator… oh God.”
The line begins moving. “That line is definitely moving,” she says. “There is something attached to it. It’s probably that gigantic alligator.”
She doesn’t touch it. “If I try to pull on that line and the alligator takes me into the water, it could end badly for me,” she adds. “So I’m not gonna touch the line until the Alligator Man comes back.”
Commenters Are Asking Questions
Despite the circumstances, Guerrero remains remarkably calm on camera—even stopping to show a massive spider she sees along the way. “That dude is probably like the size of my hand,” she says.
This led some viewers to have some questions about the situation.
One person asked, “I would be frantic if this happened, why would u let ur dog out by itself if u knew there was a gator?”
Another pointed out that Guerrero had mentioned feeding the gators in past videos. “Direct words you said were, ‘He eats the crawfish peelings, we always feed them to him.’ …And now your dog may have paid the price for it.”
Someone else shared, “We’ve recently seen coyotes in the neighborhood. I live in a city in Los Angeles and my dog is a German Shepherd and he doesn’t go in the backyard alone. This would terrify me.”
“I would be freaking out!!!” a fourth user commented. “You’re just casually talking about being tired… don’t mind me.”
She Addresses the Critics
In a follow-up video, Guerrera addressed the hate she’s received since sharing her theory about what happened to Charlie.
“I let my dog out every single day, all day long. He’s never disappeared,” she said. “The gator that came into our backyard—we didn’t know it was back there. If we did, we probably wouldn’t have let our dog out.”
Guerrera also pushed back on the feeding the alligator allegations. Yes, she’d thrown crawfish peelings into the pond, she admitted, but she insisted she wasn’t “baking freaking muffins for the alligators,” meaning it wasn’t a regular occurrence.
Guerrera also confirmed that nuisance gators do get euthanized and said the trapper told her he’s already caught 600 this year in their tri-parish area.
As For Why She Hasn’t Put Up a Fence
“I don’t want to block the view of the pond and the woods,” she said, noting that many neighbors felt the same way.
Toward the end of the video, Guerrera got emotional again. “You can’t imagine the amount of pain and heartbreak I’ve been going through,” she said. “I thought I had five years left. And I don’t anymore.”
Despite everything, she said she’s not getting another pet.
“I have to be the strong one. I have to cry in private,” she concluded. “The world does not stop because I am sad.”
What Are the Laws Around Louisiana And Alligators? Did She Break Any?
Feeding alligators in Louisiana is, in fact, not illegal in Louisiana, but wildlife experts strongly advise against it.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) says feeding gators makes them lose their natural fear of humans—making encounters like this more dangerous for everyone.
But Guerrera insisted she didn’t feed them, just threw crawfish peelings into the pond like “everyone else in the neighborhood.” Whether that technically counts is unclear, but it’s a gray area at best.
@thejennaguerrero I think my dog was eaten by an alligator. #thejennaguerrero #jennajam
How Can You Safely Own Pets Near Louisiana’s Waterways?
Louisiana’s natural beauty comes with its own set of dangers.
If you live near a bayou, canal, or even just a small pond, there’s a decent chance you’ll see an alligator at some point. According to the LDWF, residents should keep pets on leashes, avoid letting them roam near the water, and not leave them unattended outdoors near an area that’s known to be inhabited by alligators.
Fencing can help, but it’s not foolproof. Gators have been known to crawl over or dig under barriers. Experts also suggest removing any food waste from the yard and never tossing scraps into nearby water, no matter how common it might be in the neighborhood. If you do spot a gator, don’t approach it, don’t feed it—and call wildlife control.
The TikToker Responds
In an email correspondence with BroBible, Guerrera reflected on what happened and how she’s coping.
“Looking back, yes, I would have made sure to be outside with him and keeping an eye on him,” she wrote.
Guerrera also stated that this experience changed her perspective. “From now on, if I see an alligator in our pond, I will call the alligator man immediately to remove it.”
“My family is devastated. Our hearts are so broken. I can be totally fine one minute, then in a mess of tears the next. I don’t wish this on anyone,” she further adds. “Losing a fur baby is like losing a child. The way we lost Charlie is the worst possible way. We are still hoping to find him alive and praying for a miracle.”