New Jersey State Troopers, Ryan Koehler and Vincent Ferdinandi, were preparing for their 7 a.m. shift when they received a strange alert—a Golden Retriever was swimming through Barnegat Bay. Obviously, this was pretty unusual, so the troopers went to the scene to check out the situation. The dog was swimming in the bay and with the help of a rescue team and a 22-ft. Zodiac boat, they were able to rescue the pup about 75 yards from the shore, and the dog happily jumped right in their boat.
Over two weeks prior, however, Marie and James Zangara, had lost their pup Chunk. They had been playing outside when Chunk got spooked and ran away. Though they searched for days on end, no one could find him. That is until Chunk was found swimming in the bay...
Though the dog was happy to be saved, the officers said he was definitely pretty scared. Despite this, they were able to restrain him from jumping back into the water and getting away again. His owners were certainly grateful and pleased to be reunited with their runaway. The officers who saved him were thrilled with the happy ending as well.
"To see the sigh of relief that a part of their family was back was unbelievable," said Officer Ferdinandi. "And the dog was happy to see his family as well."