Man Punches Shark to Save Dog’s Life!
Monday, September 29th, 2008
A 28-month-old rescue dog had little run-in with shark on Friday.
Jake was on his daily swim in Islamorada, Florida when a shark tried to gobble him up. Jake’s owner, Greg LeNoir, watched in horror as the 5 ft shark wrapped it’s jaws around the 14 lb pooch. LeNoir dove in after jake, punching the shark. The shark let go of Jake, and the dog resurfaced and hightailed it back to shore.
The shark’s teeth had punctured Jake’s skin (in a pattern that looked like an upside down smile) and also left some lacerations on his right side and front left leg. According to LeNoir, the shark put almost all of Jake in its mouth, except for his head and three of his legs. Dang!
Luckily, it looks like Jake’s gonna make it.
Hooray! This man and his wife have no children, this pup is their closest thing to a child. I think it was incredibly heroic that he saved his little buddy, I’m sure even he looks back at it now as probably not the sanest moment of his life. Kids or no kids, that man is a Dad!! I’m so glad they are all doing well!!
GO Jake! I am happy that he survived…I have a cute little doggie just like him!!! Hopefully next time Jake goes in the water the sharks won’t be around!!!
Put in a pool, it’s much safer! Thank God you saved the little darling! Bravo!
Yay for Daddy Greg! I would stick to swimming pools, though. lol I hope Jake makes a full recovery.
God Bless you Greg, Jake is so lucky to have a dad like you. Heal quickly little one you have a wonderful family that loves you and will take care of you.
What a lovely story!! and what a lovely “couple”!!! my dog looks just like Jake <3333
Im sooooo glad your Jake is okay, Im glad you reacted quickly and you are very lucky that the shark let go. I had an incident last week where my new foster dog grabbed my cat and in one chomp broke every bone on the inside of her body. We hit her in the head a couple of times, broke a broom over her back after 3 heavy duty swats and she still didnt let go. You are very lucky your Jake survived, this story made me feel bittersweet. Im glad your lil guy is going to be okay, you are his true hero/angel.
are you guys… city folk? like do you live in cities? i read a comment about some dog eating a cat… um do u live in forests? does ur dog hunt or something? dogs don’t usually bite other animals and humans. only weird wild humans who raise their dogs wildly do that. like seriously dogs don’t need to run loose and be “wild”. u ain’t doing them a favor. ew and put a dog in the ocean? what the hell? sure he’s having fun but helllooo sharks? dumbass. ew. like whatever you guys obviously are wild people.
I was glad to hear that the dog was ok in the end but if the shark wanted to eat it, it would have. But just as the story goes, sharks usually bite to taste for curiosity. Had the shark wanted to take the dog under, it would have even if the owner bashed it repeatedly over the head.
What I am confused about is how is that 14 lb creature in any way a rescue dog? Luckily the shark let go and the owner got lucky.
I am guessing the Shark was a bit smaller than 5 feet.
wow meredith. you are an idiot! rescue dog means he WAS rescued, as in FROM AN ANIMAL SHELTER, not that he rescues people.
That’s awesome! I’d punch a shark for my dog too!
Now thats what i call a good master. Amazing.
God bless
11fghjyttygh , you are an idiot. A rescue dog can also be someone who rescues people
Thanks Ted!
I was glad to hear that Jake and his “dad” are okay. I have a Rat Terrier, Jack, (who is from rescue and looks very much like Jake) and a Jack Russell Terrier and they too are my “children” as I cannot have my own. If put in the same situation, I would have done the same thing and later would have worried about thinking “what the hell did I just do?” HORRAY for your bravery in saving your “baby.”
Ok, heres what you didnt hear. And I’m not saying this to down Greg- but…There is a place across the street from where I live called the Islamorada Fish Company (yes I live in Islamorada). The marina next to this place is where this incident happened. At the fish company they FEED the sharks every night because the tourists love it, you can see this on YouTube just search for “feeding sharks Islamorada Fish Company.” Greg was hand feeding these same sharks at the marina, he lives here too so he knows there here. His dog jumped in…
Serious lack of better judgement in my opinion, but Im glad he is okay, and Jake the dog too. I’ve never seen a shark larger than 5′ in this area, only once did I see a Bull shark here and it was pretty small too. The sharks are mostly Lemon sharks and nurse sharks. The waters along this area are named “Yellow Shark Channel” due to all the Lemon sharks that hunt here.
THAD I usually try not to pay attention to the garbage I sometimes read,but I couldn’t let you get away with this! What do you think we are idiots? This happened on the otherside of the Fish Company away from where they feed the sharks closer to Morada Bay. Do you think my husband would deliberately risk his or our dog’s life?
We are not well versed in fishing or the habits of sharks.We don’t fish.We admit we are naive when it comes to the ocean.To say that Greg was feeding the sharks & Jake jumped in is an insult to us.
YOU SHOULD GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU WRITE…WE HAVE NEVER,EVER IN THE 5 YEARS WE HAVE LIVED HERE EVER FED THE SHARKS..WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN FEEDING THE FISH IN THE SEA.
Jake swims almost everyday at noon mostly down south.It had been raining all day & when it stopped we decided to take him for a short swim across the street like we do most Fridays. It was an unfortunate accident & we are grateful it was not fatal.
Last Sunday we went back to the scene of the incident & a fishing guide there confirmed that it was a lemon shark & did point out a 7′one which we have on film.
Too bad our own neighbour feels the need to spread false rumours…makes me wonder why????
To everyone else thank you for your well wishes, sentiments & support. Jake is doing much better than expected. Thanks to all!
Tess, if what I wrote was wrong then I do apologize. I was told this by a tech from the vet hospital last sunday night at the Lorelei. Because she worked there I beleived what she told me as the truth. As I stated above I was not intending to “down” Greg in anyway, I was just passing on what I heard from what seemed to be a pretty credible source. Because I don’t know you and Greg it would be pretty hard to check what I was told. However, I didn’t feel as if she was lying about the incident. Yes, the marina she told me it happened at is at World Wide Sportsman, between Morada Bay and the Fish Company. We’re talking about an area of less than 1/8th of a mile- the lemon sharks are everywhere in this area. As I said I am glad that no serious injuries occured, and I wish you, Jake, and Greg all the best.
Sharky- if you can omit my previous post please do so because it was not my intention to upset anyone by posting it- I was merely passing on a version of the story told to me.
they forgot to mention that Jake also took a dump in the man’s car on the way to hospital…
Well done Jake’s Dad…Jake is just gorgiss!!!
I hope he has healed well and he is back to his happy self
Cheers!!!