Greg LeNoir's wife describes him as a "Dr. Doolittle" so it was no surprise to her that when their pup Jake got bit and dragged under water by a shark in the local marina that her husband dove after the shark and saved the dog.
Greg LeNoir watched in horror as a shark opened its mouth wide and seemingly swallowed up his beloved 14-pound rat terrier pet, Jake. LeNoir remembers
shrieking ''
Noooooo" and fearing the worst: "
I clenched my fists and dove straight in with all my strength, like a battering ram. I hit the back of the shark's neck. It was like hitting concrete."
This all happened last Friday when LeNoir took Jake for his daily swim at the Worldwide Sportsman's Bayside Marina pier in Islamorada, in the Florida Keys. LeNoir says that after the 5 foot long shark grabbed Jake and disappeared under the water, he dove in, hit the shark and the shark let the dog go. Jake popped up to the surface and frantically swam back to shore with a slick of blood trailing along behind him.
LeNoir said "
We have no children. Jake became our child. When I saw the shark engulf him, I thought, `This can't be the end.'".
Jake suffered from lacerations on his right side, front left leg and had some skin hanging from him like ribbons. The sharks teeth punctured Jake's skin on his stomach, chest and back and the vet who treated him describes it as looking like "
an upside-down smile".
Veterinarian Suzanne Sigel re-examined Jake on Monday and reports: "
He looks great and is recuperating well. I was worried he may have inhaled saltwater when he was pulled under, but there's no evidence of infection or pneumonia. He's healing great."
Tessalee LeNoir said she wasn't shocked by her husband's actions: "
People know him as Dr. Doolittle. He's the one who climbs up a tree to save a possum."
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