A video posted on social media shows a dog saving a baby deer from the water off the coast of Long Island. The dog’s owner told CBS New York he was walking his golden retriever, Storm, in Port Jefferson Harbor in New York over the weekend when the dog plunged into the water and started swimming out to the fawn.
The video shows how Storm swims to the fawn, grabs it by the neck and pulls it out to the shore. Mark Freeley also told CBS New York after Storm rescued the fawn it ran back into the water, scared.
The baby deer was rescued once more and taken to an animal rescue.
A golden retriever saved a baby deer from being drowned in New York
The video starts with Freeley shouting at Storm to bring the small deer back to shore.
“Storm is trying to save this baby deer – I think he’s trying to save him,” Freeley is heard saying in the video. Then he calls out to the dog: “Storm, bring him in! Storm, bring him in! Good boy, Storm, bring him in!”
Storm grabs the fawn and takes it to the shore, where he lays down next to it. Freeley said Storm started nudging the fawn and started pulling it to make sure it was OK, he guessed.
Freeley said he immediately called experts to check on the baby deer. Frank Floridia of Strong Island Rescue rushed to the harbor to check on the fawn. Freeley recalled that as soon as they started walking on the beach, the fawn –who was likely scared by Storm and Sara, Freeley’s other dog- ran back into the water, thus beginning part two of the rescue.
“This time it went even further,” said Freeley, according to CBS New York.
https://youtu.be/Tb81nmVUeMg
Fawn is being taken care of at animal rehabilitation center
Floridia said the second rescue took about eight minutes and they even had to use a rope to catch the baby deer. He noted the second rescue was a lot of anxiety. He also credited the most difficult part of the rescue to his partner Erica Kutzing. She ran around a mile on the beach to help the men.
“I don’t think I could’ve done it without the help of my partner,” said Floridia. “I was exhausted at the point my knee blew out, and I collapsed on the beach.”
However, they were finally able to rescue the fawn, and Kutzing carried it to the rescue van. She said the fawn was covered in ticks and had injured its eye.
The fawn was taken to the Star Foundation, a wildlife sanctuary, and rehabilitation center. Freeley posted a video this Thursday where the fawn is seen comfortably laid inside a crib. The vets at the animal rescue are treating it for subcutaneous emphysema, a condition in which some air gets trapped under the skin.
Officials at the Star Foundation said once the baby deer is old enough and well, it will be released back into the wild.
Source: The Washington Post