Man punches shark to save dog

Saya · 10-01-2008, 08:19 AM

Stories like these just make me melt.

http://guanabee.com/2008/09/florida-...ark-to-s-1.php

How much do you love your pet? Enough to leap into the ocean and fight a shark to save it? Yeah, us neither. But one Florida Keys man does, and he proved it by punching a shark in the face when it tried to eat his wittle bitty doggie, Jake. The rat terrier got into trouble during his daily swim off a pier, when a 5 foot long shark lunged and caught him in its teeth. His owner, carpenter Greg LeNoir, chose the “I’m a durn fool” option and leapt into the ocean on top of the shark.

”I clenched my fists and dove straight in with all my strength, like a battering ram,” LeNoir, 53, said Sunday, reliving the frightening ordeal. “I hit the back of the shark’s neck. It was like hitting concrete.”

We can’t help but be sort of stunned by that choice. Maybe we just saw Jaws too many times but sharks are definitely on our top 10 “do not f*ck with” list, right up there with killer bees and our older sister. LeNoir explains his reacton:

”The shark put almost all of Jake in his mouth, except for his head and three of his legs. We have no children. Jake became our child. When I saw the shark engulf him, I thought, `This can’t be the end.’ ”

Against all likelihood, both Greg and his dog Jake made it to shore alive after Greg punched the shark (we guess it swam away? Pussy.) The terrier did have to get surgery for the giant bite mark the shark left on him, which extended around his chest, back and legs, but he is reported to be healing well. So that officially makes it OK now to laugh at how he looks in his tiny doggy leg cast and I.V. (but you might still go to hell…)

Minyaliel · 10-01-2008, 08:27 AM

*shakes head in disbelief* I´m... I... I´m stunned. The guy must be insane, but hell, what an act of devotion.

Despanan · 10-01-2008, 08:28 AM

There was another guy who punched a shark and saved his life and his girlfriend's. That guy has the best bar story ever:

Guy: Wanna see my scar?

Chick: OMG! How did you get that?

Guy: Sharkbite.

Chick: OMG! How did you survive?

Guy: I punched it. In the FACE!

Chick: OMG! Can we have sex now?

Guy: I don't see why not.

Tam Li Hua · 10-01-2008, 09:03 AM

What's up with the way this is written? It doesn't seem all that professional..

Regardless, I think there's a lot of folks who'd risk a shark bite to save their pets.

Mir · 10-01-2008, 09:54 AM

I wouldn't. If me and my dog were out swimming and a shark came along, it'd be every man/dog for himself.

Underwater Ophelia · 10-01-2008, 09:57 AM

I don't know what I'd do...
I love my Pixington!

Solumina · 10-01-2008, 10:07 AM

I suppose it depends on the type of shark, though the only pet I have at the moment is a hamster so not much of a chance for rescue.

Tam Li Hua · 10-01-2008, 12:14 PM

*tries to think of a situation where a hamster would be set loose on a beach..*

That would be interesting to see, nonetheless..

Jaye Jang · 10-01-2008, 04:38 PM

I'd punch a grizzly to save my cat. Of course, my cat could probably hold is own.... Hmmm....

MegearaErotica · 10-01-2008, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solumina

I suppose it depends on the type of shark, though the only pet I have at the moment is a hamster so not much of a chance for rescue.

I also have hamsters but I love them, so if somehow my hamster did get eaten i'd try to get them back, even that's a pretty impossible situation...

Nexus-6 · 10-01-2008, 06:21 PM

A similar incident happened recently in Australia but I think it involved a saltwater crocodile instead of a shark.

TheBloodEternity · 10-01-2008, 06:27 PM

5-foot-shark? Yeah, I'd do that for my kitty, but I've had her for 10 years. One would wonder why she'd be going for a swim though.

Besides usually all you have to do is go for eyes, gills, and nose and the thing will swim away. I'd go for the gills because that's the most immediately harmful thing to a shark.

CptSternn · 10-01-2008, 06:29 PM

It was a 5 foot shark. Thats like a baby shark.

Duane · 10-01-2008, 08:19 PM

That's the sort of stupid thing I'd do. Hell, even if it was an adult shark.

Cicero · 10-01-2008, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CptSternn

It was a 5 foot shark. Thats like a baby shark.

Depends on the species. Juvenile or adult, a 5 foot shark would still be pretty powerful.

Punching a shark square in the nose is supposedly the best way to get one to back off, dazes them momentarily or something like that. Same goes for a lot of wild animals.

I'd save my pets from a shark, no questions asked. But I'm honestly not too afraid of sharks, their behaviour is rather predictable and they don't actually want to eat human flesh (except for Zambezi/bull sharks... but they're like the pitbulls of the shark family. Highly agressive and a bit antisocial).

Solumina · 10-01-2008, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MegearaErotica

I also have hamsters but I love them, so if somehow my hamster did get eaten i'd try to get them back, even that's a pretty impossible situation...

It isn't that I don't love him dearly but more that if something bits him then it has eaten him, you can't really do anything about that.

Apparently if you flip a shark upside down they go into a trance (this is only proven in smaller species but currently it is being tested on great whites), so just grab the shark by the tail and flip it over...at least that is what the Discovery Channel said.

Joker_in_the_Pack · 10-02-2008, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solumina

It isn't that I don't love him dearly but more that if something bits him then it has eaten him, you can't really do anything about that.

Apparently if you flip a shark upside down they go into a trance (this is only proven in smaller species but currently it is being tested on great whites), so just grab the shark by the tail and flip it over...at least that is what the Discovery Channel said.

It has to do with how their spines are built.

Despanan · 10-02-2008, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cicero

I'd save my pets from a shark, no questions asked. But I'm honestly not too afraid of sharks, their behaviour is rather predictable and they don't actually want to eat human flesh (except for Zambezi/bull sharks... but they're like the pitbulls of the shark family. Highly agressive and a bit antisocial).

I totally read that as: Zombie bull Sharks. Man that would kickass.

Mir · 10-02-2008, 12:04 PM

I've given this subject a lot of thought, and... yeah.

Bat Attack · 10-15-2008, 02:51 PM

It's understandable, I've seen the relationships people have with their animals, sometimes it's stronger than and definately different to the relationships they have with other people, cause you "look after" the pet ALL its life, more than you would for a child that grows up and looks after itself. I would probably do it.

dead_dreams · 10-15-2008, 08:43 PM

If it was for someone I loved or one of my pets, I would do the exact same thing that man did. Hopefully that won't happen.

Nocturne Midnight · 10-15-2008, 09:59 PM

That guy must be pretty bad ass. I mean,
A: He's a carpenter, you don't mess with a guy with a saw or a hammer.
B: He dove in for his dog. Sort of a lame dog, but loyal noe the less.
C: He friggin punched a shark in the face. 'nuff said.

dead_dreams · 10-15-2008, 10:47 PM

Just because he hit a shark in the face does not make him bad ass. Haven't you heard of people performing "superhuman" feats of strength and resistance in emergency situations? It's called "adrenaline".
look it up on Google

noveleigh · 10-18-2008, 06:48 AM

I would probably do the same thing for my cat. Especially if the shark was as small as a 5 footer.

Fae-wolf · 10-18-2008, 03:54 PM

That's soo sweet!