Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/puppy-saved-ocean-florida/

A day on the water off the coast of Florida turned into a rescue mission for a girl and her friends.

Bryn Crowell was out with her friends when she spotted something in the water. When they got closer, the group realized the thing in the water was a puppy!

The puppy was swimming all alone with one around, no owner in sight. Of course, they weren’t going to leave the pup in the ocean so one of the men in the group jumped into the water to rescue the dog.

“my friends and i saved a dog we found swimming alone in the middle of the ocean,” Bryn shared in a TikTok video.

In the video, you can see the man swimming to the boat holding a pup in his arms. With the help of some other friends, they all work to get the dog onto the boat and the pup seems to be ok.

The group wasn’t sure how long he’d been out in the water, but he appeared to be alert and just happy to be around people.

Check out the rescue video below:

@bryncrowell just florida things #dogsaved #boating #florida ♬ original sound – bryncrowell

In an update video, Bryn explained that they called the number on the dog’s tags and were able to contact his owners.

They were able to boat 20 minutes to the next inlet and return him.

She said, “The owners were crying and thankful he was safe, gave us $300 for gas to get there and as a thank you.”

Bryn added in the comments that he’d apparently jumped off his owners’ boat and they didn’t notice until it was too late. It was pure luck that her boat happened to be going by the same area and spotted him!

@bryncrowell Reply to @mistygreer78 ♬ original sound – bryncrowell

Though the dog, Zuko, seemed ok after his ordeal in the ocean, his owners took him to the veterinarian to have a check-up just in case.

Bryn shared in a “final update” video that Zuko was found to be in “perfect condition, 100% healthy.”

She also noted that his owners had learned their lesson (the hard way) and they wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. It serves as a good reminder to always keep a life jacket on your dog(s) when out on the water, even if you don’t plan on putting them in the water.

Much like with people, unexpected events can happen where pets end up stranded in the water and a life jacket could be the difference between life and death.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog