Dog Rescued by Volunteer Fighters After Swimming Across New York's Hudson River

Dog Rescued by Volunteer Fighters
Dog Rescued by Volunteer Fighters

A New York dog has found his way back home after swimming across the Hudson River.

The Edgewater Fire Department reports that a 6-month-old mixed breed dog named Bear was found under a pier at Independence Harbor early on Tuesday morning after a call came in about a dod barking in the water.

"The two guys in the water just stayed behind him so he would come toward the boat and he sat there, waited patiently, I grabbed him by the back of the head and put him in the back of the boat," firefighter Tom Quinton told ABC7.

Dog Rescued by Volunteer Fighters
Dog Rescued by Volunteer Fighters

Edgewater Fire Company #1

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The dog's owner, Ellen Wolpin, expressed to The New York Post that her family had just purchased Bear last week for their 20-year-old son Zack who has special needs, and were in the process of buying him a harness when he escaped and ran down the Upper East Side on 86th Street and jumped in the water near 110th Street.

Although Bear's breed a cross between a Leonberger Bernese and a Bernese Mountain dog naturally thrives in cold weather, his family was afraid that he was gone for good after patrol boats had no luck finding him that day.

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"He did like a full triathlon almost," she told The Post. "Because he ran about a mile-and-a-half and then swam about a mile."

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"On Sunday, I was hoping that I would get a phone call from somebody and then come Monday there's no way this dog survived and then at 5 o' clock this morning I got a phone call from the Edgewater Police Department that they had him," she added.

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After reuniting around 6:30 AM on Tuesday, Wolpin says they gave Bear a bath, took him to get a check-up at the vet, and bought various extra dog harnesses, to make sure the situation does not happen again.

She labeled it a Christmas miracle, expressing that Bear has "had tons of treats and hugs" after their reunion.