They say dogs are man’s best friend—but for one North Carolina man, that bond runs so deep, he willingly risked his life to save his beloved companion.
Bonner Herring, a resident of Southport, didn’t think twice when he heard his dog Strike in distress. In a heart-stopping moment last week, Herring dove into the pond behind his home to rescue Strike—who had been snatched by a massive alligator.
The land Herring lives on has been in his family since the 1950s. He knows every corner of it—especially the pond. He’d even spotted a large gator in the area about a month earlier. “He was a big one,” Herring recalled. “Seven or eight feet. I’d see him basking on the southern shore in the mornings. I kept an eye on him.”
But on that particular morning, Bonner skipped his usual scan of the pond. Instead, he let Strike out and went straight to tending the garden.
About 45 minutes later, everything changed.
“I was almost finished working when I heard a sound I’ll never forget,” he said. “Strike let out a scream—one I’d never heard from him before—and then I heard a splash. That’s when I knew.”
Instinct kicked in. Bonner grabbed the closest thing—a rake—and ran toward the water. He saw ripples, then spotted Strike’s head—farther out than he expected.
“I thought, ‘Why does it have to be so deep?’ I couldn’t feel the bottom,” he said. But that didn’t stop him.
When he reached Strike, the dog was still locked in the gator’s jaws.
“He looked at me like, ‘Please, Daddy, help me.’ That was it. I decided right then—I wasn’t going home without him.”
Bonner dove in, wrestled with the alligator, and somehow managed to pry Strike free and hold him under his arm. But the danger wasn’t over. As he made his way back to shore, the gator surfaced again.
“He puffed up, showed me just how big he was—bigger than any I’d ever seen here. It was a warning,” Bonner recalled.
Miraculously, both man and dog made it out alive.
Bonner rushed Strike to a friend’s veterinary clinic in Supply. X-rays revealed a broken leg, so they headed to an emergency animal hospital in Wilmington for more care. It was in the waiting room that the emotional toll caught up with Bonner.
“I broke down. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t answer questions. A woman next to me just looked at me and said, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ And I guess… it is,” he said.
Though Bonner says he’d do it all again in a heartbeat, he doesn’t recommend anyone else take the same risk.
“That night, I Googled what to do if an alligator attacks your dog. Everything I did—it was exactly what you’re not supposed to do,” he admitted. “No matter how tough you are, you’re no match for a mature boar gator. I got lucky.”
Wildlife experts agree. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission urges residents living near ponds or lakes to always assume an alligator could be nearby. Pets should never be allowed close to the shoreline. Their “GatorWise” guidelines are there to keep everyone—two-legged and four-legged—safe.
Bonner Herring’s courageous leap was born from love and instinct, not logic. And while Strike may be recovering from a broken leg, thanks to his owner’s unwavering bravery, he’s still alive to wag his tail another day.
This story was orignally published on wwaytv3.
