A heroic dog came to the rescue and demonstrated what it meant to be a best friend. When Darby the Pitbull noticed his owner was in danger, he worked instinctively showing a great display of intelligence.
This is a tale of unconditional love and bravery of a dog where a 1-year-old Pitbull saved the day.
James White, Rohnert Park, decided that fishing with his dog would be the perfect way to spend a summer day. So on July 21st, James loaded the items into the Jeep and drove Darby and himself to the beach.
They were going to a shore in Bodega Bay in Sonoma County California.
The day began calmly, as was anticipated. Darby, on the other hand, grumbled about the dullness of fishing. The dog was bored.
James decided to put him in the Jeep and let him sleep. Then he got back to fishing. That’s when he felt the tugging on the other side of his fishing rod.
James knew he caught something very big because the tug was pretty strong and consistent. He couldn’t believe the strength of the fish on the end of his line.
For 5 minutes, James struggled to reel in the massive grab. After some time, the tugging became weak. It seemed like the fish was growing tired.
James picked the opportunity and started reeling in fast. The fish came closer and closer. It seemed like forever with reeling. He was excited about his catch.
But then he saw something in the water which shocked him.
James wasn’t reeling any normal fish but a shark! It was 2-meter long sevengill shark. He was puzzled about how a shark took the bait and was caught by him.
“The only way I think I was able to get the line back is because it was swimming towards me,” he said. He needed to do something quickly.
In an attempt to remove the hook, James raised the fish, and the giant sea monster fell to the ground beside him and sank his teeth onto his ankle.
“Immediately there was blood everywhere. The first bite punctured an artery,” White told the media. “The pressure was intense.” He was in some serious danger.
White struggled furiously to free himself from the shark’s bite. But it was a futile afford. The shark’s hold on his leg was way too strong for him and he was losing strength rapidly.
At this moment Darby realized James was in trouble. Darby, who was sitting in White’s car on a nearby hill at the time, leapt into action.
When he heard his owner call for aid, the dog managed to open the car door. The 100-pound dog dashed down the embankment and ran straight to the shark’s gills.
However, the shark did not let go of James. Instead, the shark’s teeth sank deeper into James.
The dog was quick. He then turned around and grabbed the shark’s tail. The shark was surely stronger than the dog but he was adamant about freeing his owner.
Darby had the shark by the tail and had pulled it off James. He ran up the embankment before other fishermen could arrive.
“And I told him, ‘No, back off,’ and then [Darby] repositioned and grabbed it by the tail,” said White. “He literally ran up the hill with it and pulled it off my leg.”
White tossed the shark back into the ocean and it swam away.
Despite the fact that the shark had punctured an artery, James was free and able to seek medical assistance. White is unsure how he would have gotten the shark to release if it hadn’t been for Darby.
He claims the dog saved his leg from further injury, possibly severing the artery it had already punctured.
“The first time I told somebody this, they were like, ‘You’re out of your mind, there’s no way that happened’,” he recalled his interaction with his friends about the incident.
“Then I showed him the pictures and I’m like, ‘No it absolutely happened’.”
While dogs and sharks appear to be unlikely enemies, there have been multiple stories of canines bravely battling off the underwater predators.
A video of a shark attempting to attack a lone dog swimming in shallow water along the shore went viral in 2019. However, when the shark approaches the dog, a swarm of the dog’s canine friends rush in from the shore to beat it off.
White expresses his admiration for Darby. He claims that because Darby is such an affectionate, playful dog (his nickname is “House Hippo”), he had no idea he was capable of springing into action as he did.
White will be eternally thankful. “He’s been a part of the family from day one. Just now a little more. If it wasn’t for him I would have been a lot worse.”
