A missing Golden Retriever from Brick, New Jersey, was reunited with his owners after 16 days. The dog was rescued by the New Jersey State Police, after a call from a concerned citizen. The man spotted the dog swimming along the shoreline in Barnegat Bay.
It was early in the morning when troopers Ryan Koehler and Vincent Ferdinandi, got a call that informed them about the dog. The two officers rushed to rescue the Golden Retriever, who was swimming about 75yards off shore. Using a motor boat, they immediately found the exhausted and guided him to land.
“He was extremely tired,” officer Ferdinandi told PEOPLE. “Definitely malnourished, hungry. He also got scared as he he kind of backed away from us.” Nevertheless, the officers take the dog to safety until his family arrived.
As it later turned out, the 3-year-old Golden Retriever named Chuck, was playing fetch with his owners when he suddenly scared and disappeared into the wood next to their home. Since then, the family kept searching for him, but unsuccessfully though.
After more than two weeks since he got missing, Chuck was initially spotted by some joggers who attempted to approach him, but he got spooked and jumped into the water. Since that moment until he got rescued by the police troopers, Chuck swan around 2 miles along the bay’s shore.
“To see the sigh of relief that a part of their family was back was unbelievable, and the dog was happy to see his family as well,” officer Ferdinandi said. “We are just happy, that both the dog and the owners can be reunited.”
More about the rescue in the video below!
