These military men are true heroes!
Members of the U.S. Coast Guard are trained to act quickly to save lives, but rescuing dogs isn’t exactly their expertise. They usually stick to human emergencies, but that didn’t stop a Florida crew from going out of their way to save a dog lost at sea and struggling to survive. The U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach is the reason a senior dog is still alive.
The crew of service members was training offshore during their night patrol when they received an interesting call. Someone reported a dog far away from land and struggling to stay afloat in the deep water. Knowing they had to help, the crew didn’t hesitate to put their training to work. They worked on pinpointing the dog’s location and immediately changed course.
What could’ve been a ruff day for this pooch turned out to be quite the tail!
A crew from Station Ft. Myers Beach was out training when they received a call of a pup in distress. They pulled him out of the water and returned him to shore where he was reunited with his family. pic.twitter.com/cmSwGUFt5L
— U.S. Coast Guard (@USCG) December 5, 2019
With the dog in sight, they could see the tired pooch was paddling furiously to stay alive. They didn’t know how long the exhausted dog had been swimming, but it was obvious he wouldn’t last much longer. He was too far from shore to make it back on his own, and the deep water and ocean current meant he needed help right away.
As the dog kept swimming, the Coast Guard crew maneuvered their ship into his path.
A video posted to the Coast Guard’s Twitter shows the dog acknowledging his rescuers as he started swimming closer to the boat. He seemed to know help had arrived.
With one big swoop, a crew member lifted the dog out of the water and pulled him to safety. The soggy dog landed in the man’s lap thankful to be alive. The dog gave a quick shake and seemed to be tired but unharmed. One man said,
“How are you doing, buddy?” You’re the best person I’ve ever rescued.”
The life-saving crew paused for a quick photo shoot before heading toward shore. They were able to reunite the lost dog with his family before completing their patrol. Rescuing a dog lost at sea was a first for these military men, but they know every life is worth saving.
