911 Emergency dispatchers are used to hearing all types of calls for help, but Sarasota dispatchers had to be shocked at what they heard on Thursday.
A frantic caller told them he needed back up to stop a ferocious otter from killing a grown man. Yes, an otter.
"911 - What's your emergency?"
"Help! There's a man down on the ground and an otter is trying to kill him," the caller screamed.
"There's a man on the ground and someone is doing what?" the dispatcher asks.
"An otter," caller says.
"A who?" the dispatcher replied in disbelief.
Local
"An O-T-T-E-R. Otter," the man confirms before going back to battle the vicious animal.
Sheriff's Office deputies said the otter surprised 96-year-old Morrell Denton as he walked by some bushes in his neighborhood. Raymond Duval, 53, and 36-year-old Christopher Janssen were nearby and saw the otter get the drop on the elderly man.
Listen to the crazy 911 call here.
As the vicious rodent clawed and bit at Denton, Duval and Janssen used garden tools to beat down the otter until it backed off.
Denton was transferred to the hospital, but is expected to survive his injuries.
