We all know that dogs can be protective over their owners, but perhaps none as much as Darby the Pit Bull, who reportedly saved his owner from a shark attack in California.
Fisherman, James White, was fishing in Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, California. And because he was so close to traffic, he left his 1-year-old, 100 pound Pit Bull in his car, which was parked several yards away.
After he got a nibble on his line, he spent 10 minutes reeling in the mighty catch, which transpired to be an 5ft 9" long sevengill shark. In fact, per NBC, White initially struggled to get control of the shark. "It was about 10 minutes," he said. "The only way I think I was able to get the line back is because it was swimming towards me."
The creature then proceeded to sink its teeth into James' leg.
Speaking to NBC, White said "The first time I told somebody this, they were like, 'You’re out of your mind, there’s no way that happened'. Then I showed him the pictures and I’m like, 'No it absolutely happened'".
"Immediately there was blood everywhere, the first bite punctured an artery," he continued. "The pressure was intense."
White couldn't get the shark to let go. He shouted at some fishermen a few hundred miles away, but before they could come to his assistance, someone else did: Darby.
RELEATED: Sharks can be deadly, even to each other...After hearing his owner struggle, the Pit Bull managed to open a car door and locate his owner. Darby reportedly went in for the shark's gills, which inadvertently caused it to sink its teeth even deeper into White.
"And I told him, ‘No back off’ and then [Darby] repositioned and grabbed it by the tail," the fisherman continued. "He literally ran up the hill with it and pulled it off my leg."
This man spotted a '30-foot' shark swimming near his boat:White claims that he doesn't know how he would have escaped from the shark if it weren't for Darby, and he said that his pet's intervention definitely saved his leg from further damage.
"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," he concluded.
